The United States gathered intelligence last year that Israel’s military lawyers warned there was evidence that could support war crimes charges against Tel Aviv for its military operations in Gaza reliant on American-supplied weapons, five former US officials said.

The previously unreported intelligence, described by the former officials as among the most startling shared with top US policymakers during the war, pointed to doubts within the Israeli military about the legality of its tactics that contrasted sharply with Israel’s public stance defending its actions.

Two of the former US officials said the material was not broadly circulated within the government until late in the Biden administration, when it was disseminated more widely ahead of a congressional briefing in December 2024.

The intelligence deepened concerns in Washington over Israel’s conduct in a war it said was necessary to eliminate Hamas fighters embedded in civilian infrastructure. There were concerns Israel was intentionally targeting civilians and humanitarian workers, a potential war crime which Israel has strongly denied.

US officials expressed alarm at the findings, particularly as the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza raised concerns that Israel’s operations might breach international legal standards on acceptable collateral damage.

The former U