More than three dozen democratic members of Congress, spearheaded by ex-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, a crucial ally to President Joe Biden, penned a missive to both Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding a stop on all arms shipments to Israel.
The letter was prompted by recent attacks on aid workers and an exacerbating humanitarian crisis, leading the signatories to find the approval of arms transfers inexcusable. Among those scribing their support were Pelosi, along with 36 additional Democratic members such as Barbara Lee, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Moreover, the letter insisted on the United States withholding future arms shipments until an investigatory probe into the air strike perpetrated on the World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers is conducted. Further conditions include any failure on Israel’s part to minimise harm to innocent citizens of Gaza.
Meanwhile, this constitutes part of President Biden’s broader dialogue with Egypt and Qatar’s leaders, asking them to influence Hamas for a prisoner exchange deal with Israel, citing communication from an anonymous ranking administration official.
The upcoming week will witness Biden’s National Security Advisor meeting with family members of some of the approximately 100 hostages believed to be in Gaza. These correspondences with Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisim, and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, arrived in tandem with CIA Director Bill Burns’s scheduled conversations in Cairo concerning the hostage situation.
A suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas designed to facilitate a hostage and Palestinian prisoner exchange is seen by White House officials as the singularly effective solution to implementing a temporary ceasefire and intensifying the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance into the area.
Lastly, stepping into the limelight to add his voice to the challenge was senior Democratic Senator and progressive leader, Bernie Sanders, who declared Israel not deserving of any further military support until a significant increase in aid provisions was allowed into a region already facing famine, as he discussed with CNN. His compelling concern is the mounting humanitarian disaster, exacerbated by Israel’s resistance to allowing aid vehicles into Gaza, particularly into the most severely affected areas.
The tragic loss of seven aid workers in Gaza from a recent Israeli airstrike has fuelled a growing debate within the US Senate. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders argued that as starving kids continue to suffer in the region, US military aid to Israel should be ended.
Both Senators Sanders and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland have called for a more stringent enforcement of a national security memorandum signed earlier this year. The memorandum proposed enforcing humanitarian related conditions on Israel’s receipt of US military weaponry. Van Hollen shared with Politico Playbook his approval of the president’s intentions for rigorous compliance monitoring and tighter policies towards Israeli government in the future.
If Israel fails in diminishing civilian casualties or in providing crucial help to those in need, Senator Van Hollen suggests weapons transfer suspension as one of the possible measures. His suggestion followed the tragic death of seven employees of a globally recognized food charity, the World Central Kitchen (WCK), in the aftermath of an Israeli air raid. After the event, a freight ship carrying much-needed sustenance for Gaza was forced to turn back to Cyprus.
As a response to the tragic death of WCK aid workers, one of whom held US-Canadian citizenship and three who were of British nationality, Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts revealed her intention to obstruct any upcoming sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel. Her comments coincided with preliminary reports of an $18 billion arms package deal including over two dozen F-15s being considered by the Biden administration.
Senator Warren told CNN that arms sales to a country that disregards US laws, including ensuring access to humanitarian aid, should not be approved. She declared the issue both a legal and moral one, asserting her readiness to accept responsibility.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, admitted that the death of WCK workers was accidental. As a result, two high-ranking military officers have been dismissed. Senators Sanders, Van Hollen and Warren all belong to the Senate’s current 51-49 majority held by Democrats and independents who side with them.
Biden’s government has typically expressed unwavering backing for Israel, which responded to a fatal attack by Hamas on 7th October with land and air strikes on Gaza leading to over 30,000 casualties and exacerbating the existing humanitarian crisis. Despite the US giving Israel a minimum of $3.8 billion in security aid per year, it recently chose not to participate in a UN vote. This decision led to the passing of a resolution which called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, in the aftermath of a Hamas offensive that resulted in the deaths of 1,100 Israelis and involved hostage-taking.