Washington, March 13 (RHC)-- A group of U.S. senators has urged President Joe Biden to stop arming Israel, citing the regime's efforts to block humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
An independent and seven Democratic senators have sent a letter to Biden, noting that the administration had been in violation of a part of a law that bars military aid from going to any country that blocks humanitarian aid.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and seven Democrats said in the letter that Benjamin Netanyahu's interference with humanitarian operations has prevented US aid from reaching its intended recipients in a safe and timely manner.
Sanders said: “Israel does not have — in any way, shape or form — the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people.” The group said they wanted Biden to stop supplying weaponry to the Israeli regime that "interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance."
The group said Netanyahu's interference in U.S. humanitarian operations violates the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act.
They urged the president to make it clear to the regime that "failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences, as specified under existing U.S. law." They said the present humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Gaza Strip is "nearly unprecedented" in modern times.
Biden has authorized an airdrop of 38,000 ready-to-eat meals into Gaza. He also announced that the US military would build a temporary pier to create a new entry point for aid into the region cut off by Israel. These moves, the senators said, are proof that Israel is standing in the way of much-needed food and supplies from reaching the starving Palestinians trapped in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January ordered the Israeli regime to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to hapless Palestinians trapped in the besieged Gaza Strip.
On January 26, the ICJ issued a ruling in which it acknowledged that there was a plausible suspicion that Israel is acting contrary to its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention in carrying out its military operations in Gaza since that October day. The ICJ ordered Israel to take all possible measures to shield the Palestinian people and prevent the crime of genocide.
Last month, the Senate approved an emergency national security aid bill that would send an additional $14.1 billion in military aid to Israel, including $10 billion for weaponry.
For months now, the United Nations and aid groups in the region have been condemning the Israeli regime for either failing to provide safe passage to humanitarian organizations or preventing aid from passing checkpoints and holding up aid along the border.
At least 31,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been confirmed killed and over 72,000 others injured so far during Israel’s genocidal war, which began following Operation Al-Aqsa Storm by Gaza-based resistance movements on October 7, 2023.
