The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly refused a bid to block the sale of $8.8 billion in arms to Israel on the human rights crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza after Israel blocked the suspension of humanitarian aid delivery.
The Senate voted 82-15 and 83-15 to reject two disapproval solutions for the sale of large bombs and other offensive military equipment. The resolution was provided by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is conspired with Democrats, reported New Arab.
In both cases, Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin voted “now.”
The decades-long tradition of strong, bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress means that a resolution to stop the sale of arms is unlikely to be passed, but supporters hope that by raising the issue, the Israeli and US administrations will encourage more to protect civilians.
In a statement urging support for the resolution, Sanders described the casualties of civilians – particularly from the recent humanitarian blockade, thousands of children have faced malnutrition and starvation. “I can’t imagine what’s going on right now. Today is 31 days and there’s absolutely no humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza. Nothing. No food, no water, no medicine, no fuel, for over a month,” Sanders said.
The suspension, which Israel claims, is intended to put pressure on Hamas at the ceasefire talks and applies to food, medicine and fuel imports.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Riche said, calling for the defeat of Sanders’ resolution, “they will abandon Israel, the closest ally in the Middle East, at a pivotal moment for the security of the world.”
The vote on Thursday took place on the same day that hundreds of thousands of Gazaans fled in search of shelter in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war. Israeli forces are heading to ruins in Rafa, part of the newly announced “security zone” they are set to seize.
Previous resolution failed
The Senate voted overwhelmingly in November, blocking three resolutions introduced by Sanders and approved by a Democrat administration that criticized several progressives for failing to help Palestinians as a condition of Gaza.
Starting its second term on January 20th, President Donald Trump, a fierce defender of Israel, overturned Biden’s efforts to put some restrictions on weapons sent to the Netanyahu government. He has also come to mind the idea of moving Palestinians out of Gaza and turning the enclave into the “Middle Eastern Riviera.”
Earlier this year, Trump shunned the Congressional review process and approved billions of dollars in military sales to Israel.
US law gives Congress the right to review the sale of major foreign arms and block them by passing resolutions of disapproval. Such a resolution has passed through Congress and has not survived the presidential veto, but the law requires that a resolution be voted in the Senate if it is submitted. Such resolutions have sometimes led to embarrassing rage debates on past presidents.