US Senator Sanders to force Senate votes on blocking arms sales

28/3/2025 6:20

U.S. Senator Bernie

Sanders said on Thursday he would force votes next week on

resolutions that would block $8.8 billion in arms sales to

Israel, citing the human rights crisis faced by Palestinians in

Gaza after Israel's bombardment of the enclave and its

suspension of aid deliveries.



"(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu has clearly

violated U.S. and international law in this brutal war, and we

must end our complicity in the carnage," Sanders, an independent

who caucuses with Democrats, said in a statement announcing his

plan.



More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the

Israeli campaign in Gaza, Palestinian officials say. It was

launched after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern

Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting

251 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.



Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of

thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings.



A decades-long tradition of strong bipartisan support for

Israel in the U.S. Congress means resolutions to stop weapons

sales are unlikely to pass, but backers hope that raising the

issue will encourage Israel's government and U.S.

administrations to do more to protect civilians.



"No humanitarian aid has entered Gaza in more than three and

a half weeks since Israeli authorities announced a complete

blockade – that’s no food, water, medicine, or fuel since the

start of March," Sanders said in a statement.



Last month, the UN Human Rights Chief accused Israel on

Wednesday of showing an unprecedented disregard for human rights

in its military actions in Gaza and said Hamas had violated

international law.



The Senate voted overwhelmingly in November to block three

resolutions introduced by Sanders that would have halted

transfers of weapons approved by the administration of

then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat whom progressives

criticized as doing too little to help Palestinians as

conditions in Gaza worsened.



President Donald Trump, who began a second term on Jan. 20

and is a fierce advocate for Israel, has reversed Biden's

efforts to place some limits on what arms are sent to

Netanyahu's government.



Last month, Trump sidestepped the congressional review

process to approve billions of dollars in military sales to

Israel.



U.S. law gives Congress the right to stop major foreign

weapons sales by passing resolutions of disapproval. Although no

such resolution has both passed Congress and survived a

presidential veto, the law requires the Senate to vote if a

resolution is filed. Such resolutions have at times led to angry

debates embarrassing to past presidents.