Biden Refuses to Uphold US Law, Halt Weapons as Israel Flouts Aid Deadline | Palestine Policy Roundup 11.15.24
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Sen. Peter Welch: “Accepting ‘small steps’ and empty promises won’t cut it when the devastation created by Israel in Gaza—using U.S. taxpayer funded bombs—is causing a calamity…It is long past time for the Biden Administration to insist that Israel adheres to international humanitarian law, the Leahy Law, and its obligation to facilitate—not impede—humanitarian aid.”
Rep. Summer Lee: “Israel is blocking aid into Gaza and starving Palestinians while continuing to receive US-made weapons paid for by our tax dollars. The White House is failing to do what US law requires, and what the majority of Americans want: Stop sending weapons to Israel.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “US law is clear: No nation blocking US humanitarian aid can receive US weapons. Palestinian children are forced to eat pet food and bug infested flour, but @SecBlinken says there’s no need to change our policy. The Biden administration is refusing to comply with US law.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Next week I will bring to the floor of the Senate a number of Joint Resolutions of Disapproval in order to block certain offensive weapons sales to Israel…The United States cannot continue to be complicit in this war by supplying more military aid and weaponry to the Netanyahu government. Congress must act to block these arms sales.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “The failure by the Biden administration to follow US law and to suspend arms shipments is a grave mistake that undermines American credibility worldwide. If this administration will not act, Congress must step up to enforce US law and hold the Netanyahu government accountable through a joint resolution of disapproval.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “Dissent is a fundamental part of democracy. Emboldened by the possibility of an unchallenged campaign of retaliation and persecution, Republicans are bringing H.R. 9495 to the floor AGAIN to give Trump the power to brand any organization that opposes him or his administration as a "terrorist." I voted no once, and I will be voting NO again!”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
❌ BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FAILS TO CUT OFF WEAPONS AFTER ISRAEL FLOUTS AID LETTER DEADLINE
The State Department announced this week that despite Israel failing to meet the stipulations regarding the delivery of aid to Gaza outlined in the letter sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in mid-October, the US will continue the flow of weapons to Israel. This assessment blatantly violates Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act and National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20).
The letter called on Israel to surge all forms of humanitarian assistance in Gaza through various measures, including opening more border crossings, increasing the number of aid trucks that enter Gaza to 350 every day, and more. It also warned Israel against instituting a blockade and forced displacement policy in northern Gaza.
Israel has not only failed to meet the stipulations outlined in the letter, but has taken action to worsen the situation in Gaza, according to a group of 8 humanitarian groups which released a scorecard that assessed Israel’s compliance with the letter. According to the report, Israel only allowed an average of 42 aid trucks into Gaza per day, far short of the 350 trucks outlined in the letter; has failed to consistently increase the flow of aid at border crossings; and has continued to target humanitarian sites and kill aid workers.
According to US law and Biden administration policy, weapons transfers to Israel should have stopped as soon as it became clear that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza–something that Blinken was reportedly repeatedly warned about by multiple government bodies as early as April. Blinken later falsely reported to Congress that Israel was not in violation of NSM-20 after rejecting these reports.
The letter’s recognition that Israel has been blocking aid from entering Gaza over recent months itself is evidence that the US should have suspended all weapons to Israel immediately, according to the law. The Biden administration’s flouting of US law and administration policy is obscene, and President Biden must shift course immediately. Members of Congress must also pressure the administration to follow the law by ending weapons to Israel and exercise their oversight authority over weapons transfers.
🛑 SEN. SANDERS TO BRING JRDS AGAINST WEAPONS TO ISRAEL TO A VOTE NEXT WEEK
Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his intention to bring Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to block weapons deliveries to Israel to a vote next week. These weapons deliveries were notified by the Biden administration in August. This will be the first-ever vote in Congress to block weapon sales to Israel.
Sanders’ JRDs specifically seek to block the sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, 120mm tank rounds, 120mm high explosive mortar rounds, Medium Tactical Vehicles, and new F-15 aircraft and upgrades for Israel’s existing fleet of F-15s. Many, if not all, of these weapons have been used by Israel to further its campaign of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and many of these exact US-provided weapons have been used in many potential war crimes committed by Israel. Congress must stop these weapons sales and uphold US law and policies on weapons transfers by voting in support of these JRDs.
As the votes on these JRDs grow closer, support for the measures has grown within Congress and among the American people. Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced her support for the JRDs in comments to The Guardian. More than 15,000 people have signed onto the IMEU Policy Project’s pledge to take action to support the JRDs, and nearly 60 organizations launched a grassroots campaign that pledges to drive supporters to call on Senators to support the JRDs and to block arms sales to Israel.
💡 POLICY ASK: The IMEU Policy Project strongly encourages Senators to cosponsor and vote for Sen. Sanders’ joint resolutions of disapproval, and strongly encourages Representatives to introduce companion JRDs in the House.
📖 LEARN MORE about these weapons transfers and how they have been used in apparent war crimes in the IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo on the need for these JRDs.
🏛️ MORE THAN 80 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO SANCTION ISRAELI MINISTERS
More than 80 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden last month, which was just publicly released yesterday, urging him to place sanctions on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over their involvement in rising settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and settlement expansion. The letter comes as Smotrich has reportedly ordered preparations for the annexation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
While the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities that have supported and encouraged the recent rise in settler violence, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are key architects of Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and have repeatedly supported violence against Palestinians committed by settlers. Ben-Gvir has distributed 120,000 firearms to Israeli settlers, weapons which could have been used in settler attacks on Palestinians. Additionally, Smotrich has pledged to support Israeli settlers who have been sanctioned and is deeply tied to organizations that are facilitating settlement expansion and settler violence.
While US sanctions on individual settlers and organizations are welcome actions, they do not begin to address the governmental support provided by Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. The violence and land theft associated with Israeli settler pogroms is part of the expansionist policy pursued by the Israeli government, and sanctions must therefore extend to Israeli officials. The Biden administration should comply with international law, end its support of Israeli settlements, and place sanctions on these ministers as Members of Congress have demanded.
📣 HOUSE REPUBLICAN EFFORT TO HELP TRUMP DISMANTLE PROGRESSIVE GROUPS FAILS
House Republicans failed to pass H.R. 9495, a bill which threatened to empower the incoming Trump administration to dismantle progressive organizations by stripping away their nonprofit status through unilateral actions by the Treasury Secretary.
More than 120 civil society organizations, including the ACLU, American Federation of Teachers, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, NAACP, and Public Citizen, to name a few, oppose this bill because “the potential for abuse under” this bill “is immense as the executive branch would be handed a tool it could use to curb free speech, censor nonprofit media outlets, target political opponents, and punish disfavored groups across the political spectrum. Moreover, the addition of this authority to the tax code would allow the IRS to explicitly target and harass domestic nonprofits using its investigative authority.”
While this effort failed in this week’s suspension vote, House Republicans are set to try to pass this legislation again: a Rules Committee markup of the bill is set for Monday.
💡 POLICY ASK: Representatives should vote against this bill when it comes up for another vote next week.
📖 LEARN MORE: Read the IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo on how this bill fits into a MAGA assault on free speech.
IN THE NEWS
⛑️ RESCUE WORKERS KILLED BY ISRAELI STRIKE IN LEBANON AS ISRAEL SUSTAINS BOMBING CAMPAIGN
At least 15 rescue workers were killed by an Israeli strike on an emergency response center near the city of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon on Thursday. The building was reportedly linked to the Lebanese government, which is not an official target of Israel’s bombing campaign in the country. 5 paramedics were also killed in a separate strike on Thursday, bringing the total number of medical and emergency workers killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon to 192. Intentionally attacking medical workers is a war crime, and Human Rights Watch recently reported that at least 3 recent Israeli attacks on medical workers are apparent war crimes.
These attacks continue to strain Lebanon's ability to respond to the aftermath of Israeli attacks as its bombing campaign appears to spread beyond its stated objectives. Israel has continued its attacks all over Lebanon, often targeting residential buildings and houses that are sheltering people displaced by its attacks in the south.
23 Lebanese, including 7 children, were killed in an Israeli strike on the village of Almat, which is located north of Beirut. 28 more Lebanese were killed in two strikes on houses in villages in the Mount Lebanon region. Those houses were reportedly sheltering displaced Lebanese. These strikes also came as Israel struck the southern suburbs of Beirut 10 times in one day. More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli bombing, and more than 2,600 have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s air campaign several weeks ago.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🍎 FAMINE IN NORTHERN GAZA IMMINENT AS ISRAEL CONTINUES OBSTRUCTING AID
An alert warning of a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip” and of the rapidly deteriorating conditions in Gaza was issued this week by the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a multilateral group which analyzes food insecurity and malnutrition. This special warning reflects the impact of escalating Israeli actions to obstruct aid to Gaza, especially in the northern part of the occupied territory, and calls for immediate action to alleviate the situation.
The alert reports that “starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing in these areas [of the northern Gaza Strip]. Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future.” This report comes after the IPC released its report on food insecurity in Gaza last month, which stated that 1.84 million people–nearly 90% of Gaza’s population–were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. This report only analyzed data up to October 4th, before Israel began its invasion and blockade of northern Gaza.
The situation since Israel began its forced displacement campaign from northern Gaza has only become more dire. During the month of October, Israeli authorities refused to facilitate 43% of humanitarian movements, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and another 16% were impeded. The amount of aid reaching Gaza has decreased to the lowest levels since December 2023, and only an average of 57 trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza per day. Before Israel’s genocidal campaign, Gaza received 500 trucks of aid every day.
A report published by the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices provided further evidence of Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war as it found that “Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide”. Among many other concerns and points raised by the report, it found that Israel is intentionally causing death and starvation and is inflicting collective punishment on Palestinians in Gaza. The report also notes that statements made by Israeli officials and the systemic nature of Israel’s obstruction of aid make clear its intention to use humanitarian aid for political and military gains.
⚖️ HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ISRAEL’S FORCED DISPLACEMENT OF PALESTINIANS AMOUNTS TO WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
A new report released by Human Rights Watch found that Israel has overseen a deliberate and systematic campaign of forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza that amounts to ethnic cleansing, and that Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This report comes as the so-called humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi, where many displaced Palestinians have sought safety at the suggestion of Israeli forces, was struck at least twice this week by Israeli forces.
The report, which drew upon interviews with dozens of displaced Palestinians, analyzed Israel’s widespread destruction of Gaza, attacks on safe zones, and evacuation orders. It found that Israeli forces have deliberately destroyed homes and civilian infrastructure through controlled demolitions in order to create buffer zones that would permanently displace Palestinians. The report also found that Israel’s so-called evacuation orders have often served to spread fear and have not been communicated with enough time to allow civilians to leave.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: “There is no plausible imperative military reason to justify Israel’s mass displacement of nearly all of Gaza’s population, often multiple times, Human Rights Watch found. Israel’s evacuation system has severely harmed the population and often served only to spread fear and anxiety. Rather than ensure security for displaced civilians, Israeli forces have repeatedly struck designated evacuation routes and safe zones.”
This report also comes as 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced by Israeli forces and an Israeli military official said that Israeli forces do not intend to allow Palestinians who have been forcibly displaced from northern Gaza to return to their homes. Palestinians and international humanitarian groups alike point to evidence that suggests Israel is carrying out the “generals’ plan” to depopulate northern Gaza through its siege and constant attacks on the area.
📺 WATCH: A video report produced by Al-Jazeera captured the moment of an Israeli attack on the so-called humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi.
Image: Anas-Mohammed. "A charity organization distributes food, 'Takiya,' to displaced Palestinians, in the Gaza Strip. February 9, 2024." Shutterstock, ID: 2423538669, https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/charity-organization-distributes-food-takiya-2423538669.