Monday, November 4, 2024

U.S. accused of hypocrisy after ‘obscene’ arms switch to Israel


A brand new Biden administration authorization for the switch of billions of {dollars} in bombs and fighter jets to Israel has drawn criticism and accusations of hypocrisy from some lawmakers, because the White Home has expressed concern about civilian deaths in Gaza and humanitarian entry to the enclave, which is on the fringe of famine. The switch consists of greater than 1,800 2,000-pound bombs, the likes of which specialists say have been linked to the hovering demise toll throughout Israel’s marketing campaign within the Gaza Strip.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) referred to as the transfer “obscene,” writing in a publish on social media, “The U.S. can’t beg [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] to cease bombing civilians in the future and the subsequent ship him hundreds extra 2,000 lb. bombs that may degree complete metropolis blocks.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) echoed that sentiment, calling the switch “mistaken on each degree.” The administration “can’t credibly push to extend humanitarian entry to Gaza” whereas offering weapons used to “indiscriminately kill harmless Palestinians,” he stated.

“Now we have continued to assist Israel’s proper to defend itself,” a White Home official informed The Washington Submit. “Conditioning assist has not been our coverage.”

Information of the switch got here the identical day President Biden acknowledged “the ache being felt by so many within the Arab American neighborhood with the conflict in Gaza,” and as tensions have risen between the US and Israel over plans by Netanyahu to launch a army offensive in Rafah, a metropolis in southern Gaza the place some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge.

On Friday, Israel carried out strikes in Syria that killed dozens of Syrian troopers, a number of members of the militant group Hezbollah in addition to civilians, in accordance to a spokesperson for Hezbollah and Syria’s state information company. The strikes mark an intensification of Israel’s marketing campaign in opposition to Iranian-backed forces exterior its borders.

Right here’s what else to know

An Israeli strike killed 10 Palestinian law enforcement officials and wounded a number of civilians Friday at a sports activities membership east of Gaza Metropolis, the place police had been distributing assist to displaced households, a Gaza civil protection official stated. The Israel Protection Forces didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the strike, and The Submit couldn’t independently confirm the account.

Humanitarian teams are calling on Israel to comply with extra measures ordered by the Worldwide Court docket of Justice on Thursday to do extra to stop civilian deaths in Gaza. Amnesty Worldwide stated the extra provisions are “a transparent indication” of Israel’s “failure so far to adjust to the earlier legally binding measures issued by the Court docket.” Philippe Lazzarini, the top of the U.N. company for Palestinian refugees, requested United Nations member states to “exert extra stress to implement the ICJ order.”

Israel’s Supreme Court docket on Thursday ordered the suspension of state subsidies for ultra-Orthodox Jews learning in yeshivas as an alternative of doing army service, a transfer that intensifies the coalition disaster Netanyahu is going through over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews. The federal government has till April 1 to resolve on a brand new regulation to permit the neighborhood to keep away from being drafted.

The Palestine Pink Crescent Society stated 26 members of its crew have been killed because the begin of the conflict in Gaza, together with 15 staff it says had been focused whereas sporting the help group’s emblem, which is protected by worldwide regulation.

A minimum of 32,623 individuals have been killed and 75,092 injured in Gaza because the conflict started, in keeping with the Gaza Well being Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 individuals had been killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault and says 254 troopers have been killed because the begin of its army operation in Gaza.



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