According to a report by The Washington Post, the Biden administration has approved the sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel. The sale is also likely to raise red flags for the House Democrats who are part of the shifting debate over the U.S government’s support for the Israeli government.
As per the report, Congress was notified of the proposed sale on May 5, nearly a week before the Israeli airstrikes hit the Palestinian territories.
The U.S administration had supported Israel by saying that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas. But some of the House Democrats are of a different opinion in this regard. The report says that some of the lawmakers are concerned with the the new proposed sale, and its timing, suggesting that it be used as leverage.
“In the past week, the Israeli military’s strikes have killed many civilians and destroyed the building that housed the Associated Press, an American company reporting on the facts in Gaza,” a Democratic lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said, also adding that “Allowing this proposed sale of smart bombs to go through without putting pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire will only enable further carnage.”
The report says that the administration is required to inform Congress of the sale. The official notice will come out after the the Congress has informally agreed. And once the notification is made, the lawmakers will have twenty days to object with a nonbinding resolution of disapproval.
The bulk of the proposed sale is that of the Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMS, kits that transform so-called “dumb” bombs into precision-guided missiles.
The Former U.S President Trump had vetoed three resolutions passed by Congress in 2019 to stop arms sales benefiting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after the House and Senate had voted to block the arms deals worth more than $8 billion.
“There’s truth to the notion that there’s major shifts in the party about how we rubber stamp Israel writ large,” a Democratic Senate aide said. The aide added it’s unlikely that debate over the sale will ultimately result in a resolution of disapproval from Congress.
The proposed sale is definitely going to highlight the divide among the Democrats over the criticism of the Congress.
“We cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas and ignore Israel’s state-sanctioned police violence against Palestinians — including unlawful evictions, violent attacks on protestors & the murder of Palestinian children,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tweeted. “U.S. aid should not be funding this violence.”
Even Israel’s defenders condemned Israeli military actions over the weekend: Menendez released a statement on Saturday after an airstrike targeted and destroyed a building housing the Associated Press and other media outlets in Gaza City.
“I am deeply troubled by reports of Israeli military actions that resulted in the death of innocent civilians in Gaza as well as Israeli targeting of buildings housing international media outlets,” Menendez tweeted.
The death toll in Palestine, so far, has risen above 200, with 192 dead in Gaza, which includes 58 Children and 34 women. And in the West Bank area, almost 13 casualties have been reported so far.
More than 1200 people are injured. 10 deaths have been reported in Israel, so far.