Democratic US Senator, Chris Van Hollen, on Monday said that he would support measures blocking certain offensive arms sales to Israel amid its ongoing wars on the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The United States Senate is due to vote on Wednesday on legislation that would block arms sales to Israel, backed by lawmakers who say Israel is obstructing aid shipments desperately needed by Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Democratic US Senator, Chris Van Hollen, on Monday said that he would support measures blocking certain offensive arms sales to Israel amid its ongoing wars on the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Van Hollen said he has chosen to support the joint resolutions of disapproval because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly violated US laws governing the provision of lethal aid "only to be rewarded by President (Joe) Biden."
The lawmaker from the US state of Maryland said the pattern of Israeli conduct over the course of the past year "undermines the credibility of the United States and should not persist."
"Recipients of security assistance must facilitate and not arbitrarily restrict the delivery of humanitarian assistance into war zones where US weapons are being used, and American-supplied weapons must be used in accordance with international humanitarian law. The Netanyahu government is violating both of these requirements in Gaza," he said in a lengthy statement.
"President Biden has failed to hold Netanyahu accountable ignoring US law and undercutting his own stated policies as well as America’s interests and values. Doing so undermines American global leadership and is a disservice to the American people, the people of Israel, and people throughout the Middle East," he added.
According to Reuters, Van Hollen circulated a letter to his Senate colleagues, asking them to join him in support of the joint resolutions.
The Senate is slated to consider them Wednesday after they were announced last week by Independent Senator, Bernie Sanders.
Senator Elizabeth Warren announced last week that she would endorse the joint resolutions.
"There is no longer any doubt that Netanyahu’s extremist government is in clear violation of US and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Out of a population of 2.2 million, over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and 102,000 injured – sixty percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people," said Sanders.
"The United States cannot continue to be complicit in this war by supplying more military aid and weaponry to the Netanyahu government. Congress must act to block these arms sales," he added.
Most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people has been displaced and the enclave is at risk of famine. Gaza health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's 13-month-old offensive.
According to Reuters, two of the resolutions, co-sponsored with Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch, would block the sale of 120 mm mortar rounds and joint direct attack munitions (JDAMS). A third, sponsored by Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, would block the sale of tank rounds.
JDAM tail kits, which convert a standard unguided bomb using fins and a GPS guidance system into a guided weapon, are made by Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab.
"This war has been conducted almost entirely with American weapons and $18 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars. Israel has dropped U.S.-provided 2,000-pound bombs into crowded neighborhoods, killed hundreds of civilians to take out a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants," Sanders said in a statement.
"These actions are immoral and illegal," he said.
Biden, whose term ends in January, has strongly backed Israel since Hamas-led gunmen attacked in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Biden administration in October told Israel that it had 30 days to improve the flow of aid to Gaza or risk consequences to U.S. military aid.
After that period, Washington said on Nov. 12 it concluded that Israel had made progress and was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza. Many aid groups disagreed.
Israel says it has been working to address humanitarian needs and the main problem with aid deliveries was U.N. distribution challenges.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen on Monday said he supported the joint resolutions of disapproval, as did Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren last week.
U.S. law gives Congress the right to stop major foreign weapons sales by passing resolutions of disapproval. Although no such resolution has both passed Congress and survived a presidential veto, the law requires the Senate to vote if a resolution is filed. Such resolutions have at times led to angry debates embarrassing to past presidents.
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