US senator to force votes to block arms sales to Israel

WASHINGTON

US Senator Bernie Sanders said he will force votes Thursday to block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel.

"Over the last 30 days, there has been absolutely no humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, no food, no water, no medicine, no fuel, and that is for an entire month. This is barbaric.

"So let us be clear: the United States must end our complicity in these atrocities. We cannot be part of this any longer," Sanders said Wednesday in a video message shared on X.

On Thursday, Sanders will bring to the Senate floor two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to block the sale of certain offensive US weaponry to Israel.

"These resolutions would stop the sale of more than 40,000 bombs, including tens of thousands of massive 2,000-pound bombs that can level an entire city block. That's how powerful these bombs are," he said.

More than 50,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's military onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.​​​​​​​

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.