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With over 54,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip killed by the Israeli assault and the 2 million survivors suffering from the ongoing bombings and blockade on essentials, nearly two dozens progressives in the U.S. Congress came together Thursday to call for passage of a bill that would withhold offensive weapons from Israel.
Like former Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden, Republican President Donald Trump has continued to provide diplomatic and weapons support to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose forces have left the Palestinian enclave in ruins since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“Netanyahu and Trump are a lethal, unaccountable, extremist duo. Trump has bypassed congressional oversight on weapons transfers. The Israeli government is currently escalating attacks on the civilian population of Gaza. They are both out of control. Congress needs to assert its oversight authority,” said Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) in a statement.
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“Enough is enough,” Ramirez declared. “By introducing the Block the Bombs Act, a broad coalition is listening to the American people who don’t want their taxpayers’ money to continue supporting gross violations of U.S., international, and humanitarian law.”
Two former leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) — as well as Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) are spearheading the fight for the bill alongside Ramirez. Another 18 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors, including current CPC Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American in either chamber.
“For the last year and a half, Benjamin Netanyahu has laid siege to Gaza, killing at least 54,000 people, repeatedly displacing the entire population, and cutting off access to desperately needed humanitarian aid,” said Pocan. “This commonsense bill will prevent more unchecked transfers of these offensive weapons systems that are used to violate international human rights laws and hopefully help bring this devastating conflict to an end.”
Although there was a cease-fire in place for nearly two months earlier this year, Netanyahu abandoned it in March. Since then, negotiations for an end to Israel’s annihilation of Gaza and the release of both Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and hostages taken by Palestinian militants in 2023 have been unsuccessful.
Throughout the war, efforts by progressives in both chambers of Congress — including multiple resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — to block U.S. weapons that Israel uses to massacre civilians in Gaza also have not been successful. A growing number of critics across the globe condemn the U.S.-backed Israeli assault as genocide.
The new bill is backed by dozens of advocacy groups that have spent the past 20 months sounding the alarm about the soaring death toll, starvation, and destruction of infrastructure in Gaza, including Amnesty International USA, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Council on American-Islamic Relations, Demand Progress, Human Rights Watch, IfNotNow Movement, IMEU Policy Project, Indivisible, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Justice Democrats, Institute for Policy Studies, Progressive Democrats of America, Rabbis for Cease-Fire, Sunrise Movement, Win Without War, and Working Families Party.
“The Block the Bombs Act is a historic bill,” but also “a straightforward challenge to United States complicity in Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza as Israeli forces block humanitarian assistance and directly target schools, hospitals, and civilians,” said CCR associate director of policy Brad Parker. “As the Israeli government escalates the murder, starvation, and forcible transfer of Palestinians with President Trump’s full support, we recognize and appreciate the bold leadership of Reps. Ramirez, Jacobs, Jayapal, and Pocan.”
CCR also encouraged supporters of the bill to visit blockthebombs.org, which features a tool enabling U.S. voters to write to their members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the legislation, H.R. 3565.
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