Tlaib Leads Democrats in Demanding Permanent Ceasefire Deal That Includes Lebanon

A group of Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Thursday demanded that any ceasefire deal to pause the war in Iran must force Israel to halt its operations in Lebanon, and called for the passage of a war powers resolution to help end the attacks.

Although the US, Iran, and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, Israel has continued its bombing campaign in Lebanon, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday alone.

Iran has said it will not abide by a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the attacks on Lebanon stop, while Pakistan, which helped broker the ceasefire, has insisted that halting strikes on Lebanon has always been part of the agreement.

In a Thursday social media post, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) promoted a resolution she introduced in late March that called on the US to force Israel to stop its campaign in Lebanon, which has killed and wounded thousands of people while displacing more than 1 million more.

"I didn't wait for the genocidal regime of Israel to kill over 250 people in Lebanon yesterday to file resolutions to stop the US funding of these war crimes," wrote Tlaib. "So for colleagues speaking up now, welcome, but also don't just tweet, support the war powers resolution to save lives."

The call to include Lebanon in any ceasefire didn't just come from progressives like Tlaib, but from centrist members such as Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC), who recently defeated a progressive primary challenger who heavily criticized her past support from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

"I am signing Rep. Tlaib's war powers resolution to stop all US military involvement in Israel’s hostilities in Lebanon," Foushee said. "The war in Lebanon has displaced nearly 1 million people and has claimed the lives of thousands. Our federal government must hold itself to higher humanitarian standards than participating in a war that is putting innocent people at risk."

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) didn't explicitly endorse Tlaib's resolution, but affirmed that any ceasefire deal needed to curtail Israel's Lebanon campaign.

"This ceasefire must become a permanent peace. That means including Lebanon," wrote Dingell. "Netanyahu helped walk us into war, but he cannot keep us there."

Tlaib's resolution, which was introduced on March 27, calls for the US to force Israel to end its incursion and to withdraw its forces from Lebanese territory, while providing humanitarian aid and guaranteeing a right of return for all displaced Lebanese people.

Anti-war advocacy organization Just Foreign Policy encouraged Democratic leaders to get on board with Tlaib's resolution.

"Let's hope that leadership of House Democrats can support Rep. Tlaib's war powers resolution—without any delay!" the group wrote.

The group called on voters to demand that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and other leaders to "do so—and say they'll support the House floor vote—NOW!"

On Thursday, House Republicans blocked Democrats' efforts to force a vote on a war powers resolution that would halt Trump's Iran war, although the party is expected to try again next week when Congress is scheduled to return to Washington, DC.