Democratic Senators Urge Biden to Stop Arming Israel

A cohort of senators in the Democratic caucus is calling on President Joe Biden to immediately suspend military aid to Israel on Monday, so long as it continues to block U.S. humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Eight senators, led by independent Senator Bernie Sanders, claimed that Israel’s interference in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the decimated region violates a humanitarian aid subsection of the Foreign Assistance Act.

“The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history,” read the letter to Biden.

“The Netanyahu government’s interference with humanitarian operations has prevented U.S.- financed aid from reaching its intended recipients in a safe and timely manner,” it continued. “In recent weeks, humanitarian access has seriously deteriorated. That reality was underscored by your decision last week, which we support, to begin air dropping supplies to desperate civilians in north Gaza.”

“Federal law is clear, and, given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza, and the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address U.S. concerns on this issue, immediate action is necessary to secure a change in policy by his government,” the senators wrote.

The letter notes, however, that withdrawal on the basis of the statute would not stop continued support for Israel’s missile defense system, better known as the Iron Dome.

Biden himself sparred with Netanyahu over the weekend. On Saturday, Biden urged the Israeli leader to consider the innocent lives lost in the ongoing war, insisting that the conflict is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel.” But Netanyahu brushed those off the following day, telling Politico that his intention to crush Palestine is supported by the majority of his citizens.

“The positions that I espouse are supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis who say to you after October 7: ‘We don’t want to see a Palestinian state,’” he said.

More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in what a top United Nations court is deliberating as genocide. Roughly two-thirds of the rising death toll consists of women and children, according to data collected by Al Jazeera. So far, Israel has reportedly utilized starvation as a weapon of war, blocking or destroying access to water, food, fuel, electricity, and medical aid.