Sanders to offer resolution on Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading progressive voice in Congress, will offer a resolution on the Senate floor Wednesday calling for an immediate cease-fire between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas.

Sanders will ask senators to adopt his resolution by unanimous consent at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

It states that “whereas every Palestinian life matters” and “every Israeli life matters,” the Senate urges an immediate cease-fire to prevent further loss of life and further escalation of the conflict in Israeli and Palestinian territories.

The resolution also says the Senate supports diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to uphold international law and to protect the human rights of Israelis and Palestinians.

Sanders’s proposal is worded more moderately than recent statements by other high-profile progressives, such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

Ocasio-Cortez is planning to introduce a resolution to disapprove of a $735 million U.S. weapons sale to Israel. The Democratic chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees have already signed off on the sale.

“The United States should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the Israeli government as they deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions and civilian sites for bombing. We have a responsibility to protect human rights,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday.