A group of Senate Democrats fired off a letter to President Joe Biden on March 12 urging him to “enforce U.S. law” and cut off military aid to Israel amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Eight lawmakers—led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)—signed the letter to President Biden arguing that continuing to arm Israel is in violation of section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 19861, also known as the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act.
That law bans U.S. military support and arms transfers to any nation that restricts the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid.
The lawmakers cited what they said were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued restrictions on humanitarian aid going into Gaza as reasoning for military aid to the country to be cut off.
Israel has repeatedly denied blocking humanitarian assistance for Gaza amid its war with the terrorist group Hamas following its Oct. 7 incursion in southern Israel in which 1,200 people died.
Specifically, Section 620I of the act states: “No assistance shall be furnished under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act to any country when it is made known to the president that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
‘Humanitarian Catastrophe’
“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 letter continued.The lawmakers further stated that Mr. Netanyahu’s government’s “interference in U.S. humanitarian operations” in Gaza violates the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, which is part of the foreign assistance law.
“According to public reporting and your own statements, the Netanyahu government is in violation of this law,” the lawmakers wrote. “Given this reality, 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, as specified under existing U.S. law.”
Concluding their letter, the Democratic lawmakers said that while the United States “should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance,” language in the Foreign Assistance Act does still allow Washington to provide missile defense systems and supplies, such as the Iron Dome, to Israel for protection.
“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 lawmakers said.
US Drops Emergency Aid in Gaza
The letter was also signed by Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).According to the IPC Famine Review Committee, 90 percent of Gazans—some 2.8 million people–are facing acute food insecurity. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched attacks in Gaza in the wake of the events on Oct. 7.
President Biden has consistently flip-flopped in his comments regarding Israel. During an interview with MSNBC on March 10, the U.S. leader said Israel’s threatened invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza would be his “red line” for Mr. Netanyahu before backtracking and saying, “I’m never going to leave Israel.”
“You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after” Hamas militants, he said. “There are other ways to deal, to get to, to deal with ... the trauma caused by Hamas, he continued.
