Democratic senators demand Biden halt military aid to Israel

A group of Senate Democrats led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are demanding President Biden comply with the Foreign Assistance Act and cut off military aid to Israel.

The senators argued in a Monday letter to Biden that Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act requires the Biden administration halt the sale and transfer of weapons to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues to block U.S. humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

“The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance,” they wrote, noting the language of the statute would still allow the United States to provide missile defense systems and supplies, such as the Iron Dome, to protect Israeli civilians from rocket attacks.

But the senators say the law clearly prohibits the transfer of weapons such as 155 mm artillery shells that are being used to bombard neighborhoods in Gaza.

Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) also signed the letter. Sanders, an Independent, caucuses with Democrats.

The death toll in Gaza has topped 31,000, according to Palestinian officials.

“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.

Public attention has become more focused in recent days on the starvation of civilians in Gaza, such as Yazan Kafarneh, a 10-year-old boy whose skeletal image was featured prominently on the front page of Sunday’s New York Times.

“Your Administration has repeatedly stated, and the United Nations and numerous aid organizations have confirmed, that Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian access, both at the border and within Gaza, are one of the primary causes of this humanitarian catastrophe,” the senators wrote.

They cited the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which states “no assistance” shall be provided under that law or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.

“We urge you to make it clear to the Netanyahu government that failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences,” they wrote.