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The UN General Assembly (UNGA) must step in to fill the void left by the Security Council members' catastrophic failure to end relentless attacks targeting the civilian population in eastern Aleppo city, said Amnesty International ahead of a UNGA meeting later today.
The organization has released new satellite imagery illustrating the scale of destruction, as well as testimony from civilians trapped in the city, providing evidence that Syrian government forces, with Russian support, have callously attacked residential homes, medical facilities, schools, markets and mosques as part of a deliberate military strategy to empty the city of its inhabitants and seize control. In some cases there is evidence that Russian-made cluster munitions were used in attacks.
"The world's inaction in the face of the continuing carnage and blatant violations in Aleppo city must end. The UN General Assembly must show it can act where the Security Council has so catastrophically failed - the credibility of the UN is at stake," said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International's Beirut regional office.
"The scale of the bloodshed and destruction wrought on eastern Aleppo city over the past month is harrowing. Syrian government forces, with the support of Russia, have launched relentless attacks that have flagrantly disregarded fundamental rules of international humanitarian law.
The world's inaction in the face of the continuing carnage and blatant violations in Aleppo city must endLynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Research in Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Regional Office
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"The woefully inadequate eight-hour pause in bombing announced by Russia is no substitute for unimpeded access for impartial humanitarian relief and an end to unlawful attacks. Member states must use today's meeting to demand a lifting of the siege, an end to unlawful attacks, and to push for concrete measures to bring those responsible for war crimes to justice."
Many of Aleppo's remaining civilians live in constant fear of daily attacks. Soha, a local activist, described to Amnesty International how she takes her seven-month-old baby with her everywhere she goes as she is terrified of losing him.
"Every time I see a woman or child injured, I think it could have been me and my son. Nowhere is safe in Aleppo city, every one of us is a target," she said.
Nowhere is safe in Aleppo city, every one of us is a targetSoha, resident of eastern Aleppo
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Siham, whose four-year-old daughter was killed in the recent bombardment, described the pain of her loss to Amnesty International. Her husband was detained by government forces in 2012 before their daughter was born.
"I have lived all my life in Aleppo city... I lost [my daughter] six days ago. A bomb fell in front of the building where she was playing. I can't remember the last words she told me... I lost her just like that for nothing...absolutely nothing. I wish I had died with her."
The diplomatic deadlock has seen the UN Security Council paralysed as the civilian death toll in Aleppo rises by the day.
Russia, with support from China, has repeatedly wielded its veto power to block any action that would see the Syrian government held accountable for grave violations, including war crimes. Less than two weeks ago a French UN draft resolution calling for an end to attacks on civilians in Aleppo failed after a Russian veto.
Seventy countries called for today's plenary meeting sending a clear message that inaction at the Security Council must be addressed. Member states must call for an emergency session on the crisis and support all initiatives at the UNGA to bring an end to the cycle of war crimes in Syria. Imposing targeted sanctions on Syrian officials and a comprehensive arms embargo are two measures that could also help pressure the Syrian government to end violations of international humanitarian law.
The bombing of eastern Aleppo has intensified drastically since the collapse of the latest ceasefire on 19 September. At least 600 aerial attacks were carried out in the space of three weeks in the period up until the 10 October, according to the Syrian Institute for Justice and Accountability, a local monitoring group. Aleppo's Health Directorate estimates around 400 civilians were killed in these attacks.
Satellite imagery analyzed by Amnesty International reveals that in just one week, 90 locations were damaged or destroyed in an area roughly the size of Manhattan, New York City. Overall more than 110 locations were damaged between 18 September and 1 October 2016.
Within an area of 65 km between 18 September and 1 October more than 110 areas of damage were detected in eastern Aleppo. In just one week between 18 September and 25 September 90 locations were damaged. (c) Digital Globe 2016
Amnesty International documented a series of attacks over the past three weeks which appear to be aimed at decimating civilian life in Aleppo city.
Researchers from the organization spoke to residents, medical workers and activists who are trapped and who described a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation, amidst daily air strikes targeting civilian homes and infrastructure, including medical facilities, a market, a school, electricity and water company. The areas struck were all located away from military targets such as the battle frontline, military checkpoints or vehicles.
"Syrian government forces claim to be attacking non-state armed groups but the real objective is clear: to inflict severe suffering on the civilian population in order to drive them out. The world continues to stand by as this pattern is repeated over and over throughout Syria," said Lynn Maalouf.
According to the Syrian American Medical Society, 14 medical facilities have been hit by air strikes since 21 September, putting many of them out of service. Doctors have been struggling to cope with an influx of large numbers of casualties in need of emergency medical treatment - at one point, 800 wounded patients needing care were recorded in one week.
One eyewitness described to Amnesty International an attack on al-Sakhour hospital on 3 October. A bomb fell at the hospital entrance leaving behind a large crater and partially destroying a nearby field hospital. It was the third attack on the hospital that day, he said:
"I arrived at al-Sakhour hospital three hours after the attack had happened... I saw 10 injured and four killed... The injured included two of the hospital's medical staff...The closest frontline is around 300 meters away."
A doctor in Aleppo city told Amnesty International that supplies, equipment and fuel were fast running out because of the siege.
"In Aleppo city, residents fear living or being in or around a hospital because we have become a target for the regime," he said.
"Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects are serious violations of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes. The pattern of attacks targeting the civilian population, buildings and infrastructure of eastern Aleppo provides clear evidence that this is part of a calculated military strategy to make life unbearable for civilians and to empty the city by force," said Lynn Maalouf
Several residents also told Amnesty International that they had witnessed attacks using internationally banned cluster munitions, bombs that scatter scores of submunitions over a wide area posing a major threat to civilians.
Amnesty International reviewed images showing remnants of cluster bombs and submunitions in civilian areas of eastern Aleppo over the past three weeks and consulted independent weapons experts who identified these as Russian made AO-2.5RT submunitions or the very similar AO-2.5RTM, along with remnants of the RBK-500 cluster bomb from which they are dispensed.
Cluster munition remnants in eastern Aleppo city (c)Private
Fadi, was getting into a car at a busy market in Zebdie district with his friend on 25 September when a warplane dropped two cluster bombs. He and his friend were both struck by shrapnel. "All I remember after that was the feeling of agonizing pain in my leg and hip. I kept hearing small explosions... People were lying on the ground. Some crawling and others not moving," he said.
Majed, another survivor was at the same market in Zebdie which is around 500 metres away from the nearest front line when the attack took place. He recalls hearing the sound of small explosions before he woke up on the ground in shock covered in blood and surrounded by wounded people. Two pieces of shrapnel were lodged in his leg.
Osama also witnessed a cluster bomb attack on the same day as he was driving an injured friend from al-Mashhad neighbourhood to the hospital.
"I heard the sound of a warplane and then the [car's] window pane shattered on top of us. I heard a series of small explosions that went on for almost a minute... More than 40 people were injured," he said.
"The use of cluster munitions is banned under international law because they are inherently indiscriminate and, due to their high dud-rate, pose a long-lasting threat to civilians. Their apparent use in eastern Aleppo city is just further evidence of how determined Syrian government forces and their
Russian allies are to create a hostile and deadly environment in the city, clearly aimed at driving civilians out at any cost," said Lynn Maalouf.
"The scale of the bloodshed and destruction wrought on eastern Aleppo city over the past month is harrowing. Syrian government forces, with the support of Russia, have launched relentless attacks that have flagrantly disregarded fundamental rules of international humanitarian law.
"The woefully inadequate eight-hour pause in bombing announced by Russia is no substitute for unimpeded access for impartial humanitarian relief and an end to unlawful attacks. Member states must use today's meeting to demand a lifting of the siege, an end to unlawful attacks, and to push for concrete measures to bring those responsible for war crimes to justice."
Many of Aleppo's remaining civilians live in constant fear of daily attacks. Soha, a local activist, described to Amnesty International how she takes her seven-month-old baby with her everywhere she goes as she is terrified of losing him.
"Every time I see a woman or child injured, I think it could have been me and my son. Nowhere is safe in Aleppo city, every one of us is a target," she said.
Siham, whose four-year-old daughter was killed in the recent bombardment, described the pain of her loss to Amnesty International. Her husband was detained by government forces in 2012 before their daughter was born.
"I have lived all my life in Aleppo city... I lost [my daughter] six days ago. A bomb fell in front of the building where she was playing. I can't remember the last words she told me... I lost her just like that for nothing...absolutely nothing. I wish I had died with her."
The diplomatic deadlock has seen the UN Security Council paralysed as the civilian death toll in Aleppo rises by the day.
Russia, with support from China, has repeatedly wielded its veto power to block any action that would see the Syrian government held accountable for grave violations, including war crimes. Less than two weeks ago a French UN draft resolution calling for an end to attacks on civilians in Aleppo failed after a Russian veto.
Seventy countries called for today's plenary meeting sending a clear message that inaction at the Security Council must be addressed. Member states must call for an emergency session on the crisis and support all initiatives at the UNGA to bring an end to the cycle of war crimes in Syria. Imposing targeted sanctions on Syrian officials and a comprehensive arms embargo are two measures that could also help pressure the Syrian government to end violations of international humanitarian law.
The bombing of eastern Aleppo has intensified drastically since the collapse of the latest ceasefire on 19 September. At least 600 aerial attacks were carried out in the space of three weeks in the period up until the 10 October, according to the Syrian Institute for Justice and Accountability, a local monitoring group. Aleppo's Health Directorate estimates around 400 civilians were killed in these attacks.
Satellite imagery analyzed by Amnesty International reveals that in just one week, 90 locations were damaged or destroyed in an area roughly the size of Manhattan, New York City. Overall more than 110 locations were damaged between 18 September and 1 October 2016.
Amnesty International documented a series of attacks over the past three weeks which appear to be aimed at decimating civilian life in Aleppo city.
Researchers from the organization spoke to residents, medical workers and activists who are trapped and who described a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation, amidst daily air strikes targeting civilian homes and infrastructure, including medical facilities, a market, a school, electricity and water company. The areas struck were all located away from military targets such as the battle frontline, military checkpoints or vehicles.
"Syrian government forces claim to be attacking non-state armed groups but the real objective is clear: to inflict severe suffering on the civilian population in order to drive them out. The world continues to stand by as this pattern is repeated over and over throughout Syria," said Lynn Maalouf.
According to the Syrian American Medical Society, 14 medical facilities have been hit by air strikes since 21 September, putting many of them out of service. Doctors have been struggling to cope with an influx of large numbers of casualties in need of emergency medical treatment - at one point, 800 wounded patients needing care were recorded in one week.
One eyewitness described to Amnesty International an attack on al-Sakhour hospital on 3 October. A bomb fell at the hospital entrance leaving behind a large crater and partially destroying a nearby field hospital. It was the third attack on the hospital that day, he said:
"I arrived at al-Sakhour hospital three hours after the attack had happened... I saw 10 injured and four killed... The injured included two of the hospital's medical staff...The closest frontline is around 300 meters away."
A doctor in Aleppo city told Amnesty International that supplies, equipment and fuel were fast running out because of the siege.
"In Aleppo city, residents fear living or being in or around a hospital because we have become a target for the regime," he said.
"Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects are serious violations of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes. The pattern of attacks targeting the civilian population, buildings and infrastructure of eastern Aleppo provides clear evidence that this is part of a calculated military strategy to make life unbearable for civilians and to empty the city by force," said Lynn Maalouf
Several residents also told Amnesty International that they had witnessed attacks using internationally banned cluster munitions, bombs that scatter scores of submunitions over a wide area posing a major threat to civilians.
Amnesty International reviewed images showing remnants of cluster bombs and submunitions in civilian areas of eastern Aleppo over the past three weeks and consulted independent weapons experts who identified these as Russian made AO-2.5RT submunitions or the very similar AO-2.5RTM, along with remnants of the RBK-500 cluster bomb from which they are dispensed.
Fadi, was getting into a car at a busy market in Zebdie district with his friend on 25 September when a warplane dropped two cluster bombs. He and his friend were both struck by shrapnel. "All I remember after that was the feeling of agonizing pain in my leg and hip. I kept hearing small explosions... People were lying on the ground. Some crawling and others not moving," he said.
Majed, another survivor was at the same market in Zebdie which is around 500 metres away from the nearest front line when the attack took place. He recalls hearing the sound of small explosions before he woke up on the ground in shock covered in blood and surrounded by wounded people. Two pieces of shrapnel were lodged in his leg.
Osama also witnessed a cluster bomb attack on the same day as he was driving an injured friend from al-Mashhad neighbourhood to the hospital.
"I heard the sound of a warplane and then the [car's] window pane shattered on top of us. I heard a series of small explosions that went on for almost a minute... More than 40 people were injured," he said.
"The use of cluster munitions is banned under international law because they are inherently indiscriminate and, due to their high dud-rate, pose a long-lasting threat to civilians. Their apparent use in eastern Aleppo city is just further evidence of how determined Syrian government forces and their
Russian allies are to create a hostile and deadly environment in the city, clearly aimed at driving civilians out at any cost," said Lynn Maalouf.
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.
"Today shows that Amazon workers are united and stronger than ever in our demands for higher pay," said one warehouse worker and organizer.
As Amazon workers across the United States launched a campaign demanding at least $25 an hour, the e-commerce giant announced Wednesday that it is raising hourly pay for its warehouse workers and drivers.
In what Amazon vice president of worldwide operations Udit Madan called the company's "biggest-ever investment in pay and benefits," the average starting pay for U.S. fulfillment and transportation workers will rise starting this month.
"Members of our front-line team will be getting at least an additional $1.50/hour starting this month, which will bring their average base wage to more than $22/hour and average total compensation to more than $29/hour when you include the value of their elected benefits," such as healthcare, said Madan, who added that the workers will also receive free Amazon Prime subscriptions.
While the Amazon workers who launched the drive for $25 welcomed the announcement, they say they deserve more.
"I've lost out on thousands of dollars of income. I haven't gotten a paycheck since my short-term disability—which only covered 60% of my regular pay—ended in January," said Christine, a worker at Amazon's STL8 fulfillment center in Missouri and longtime member of the STL8 Organizing Committee.
"I'm awaiting approval for long-term disability, which I applied for back in January," explained Christine, who was injured on the job. "I've maxed out my credit cards and drained my 401(k). I'm on food stamps. I just got approved for Medicaid. At one point I started a GoFundMe just to make rent. I've never been in the position of having to ask for money, but the alternative was homelessness. When you're forced into that position, you do what it takes to survive."
"Today shows that Amazon workers are united and stronger than ever in our demands for higher pay," she added. "With over 800 worker signatures on our petition and new workers joining us from across the region, together we will win the $25 an hour that we all deserve."
According to the campaign:
Research suggests working families need at least $25 to make it by. In Missouri, for example, a livable wage for a family of four is at least $25; in New York, the livable wage is even higher, at $39. However, a majority of Amazon warehouse workers reported earning wages between $16 and $20—before Amazon increased starting pay to $17 in September 2023. Amazon itself reports an average pay of $20.50.
"The $1 raise that Amazon gave workers last year was shameful. After accounting for inflation, it wasn't even a raise," lamented Irene Tung, senior researcher and policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project. "Our research has shown that Amazon tends to locate its warehouses in high earnings counties around the country, but lags behind other warehouse employers in pay—even though it can afford to pay workers much more."
Advocates point to Amazon's $30.4 billion 2023 profits as proof that the company can afford to pay its workers more.
"Raising pay by 25% would bring Amazon workers much closer to a middle-income standard of earnings," Tung said. "Given Amazon's size and the enormity of its wealth, it is not far-fetched to ask why this company has thus far failed at creating middle-income jobs for the hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers that power its operations."
Beth Gutelius—the author of Handling Hardship: Data on Economic Insecurity Among Amazon Warehouse Workers—said in a statement that "if warehouse wages had kept pace with inflation, workers would be earning $25.66 an hour—so workers are simply asking Amazon to bring wages in line with the cost of living, which as we know has risen sharply."
"Doing so would help ensure that workers are able to meet their basic needs without relying on public assistance," she added.
"Our report clearly lays out the way carbon capture tax credits rig the system in favor of the oil and gas industry to the tune of billions of dollars," one expert said.
As the U.S. moves to invest in climate solutions, is the money going toward projects that will meaningfully reduce emissions and transition the nation's energy system away from fossil fuels?
A report released Wednesday by worker-owned corporate accountability and environmental justice research organization Empower found that just 34 carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Texas could receive between $3.2 billion and $33 billion in annual tax subsides.
At the same time, most of the carbon dioxide pipelines in the state are managed by the major oil and gas companies like Kinder Morgan, Occidental Petroleum, and ExxonMobil that played a disproportionate role in creating the climate crisis in the first place.
"Carbon capture and storage is the most expensive and least effective carbon mitigation solution. It's really not where we need to be investing our money," said Paige Powell, the policy manager at Commission Shift, at a press briefing announcing the new research. "And the public dollars coming from the federal government to fossil fuel companies are our dollars, our taxpayer dollars that could be better spent elsewhere."
"I think it's important for us to ask ourselves, if carbon capture is receiving so much public dollars, why is there little public input?"
For its report, Empower turned up 98 carbon dioxide-related projects in the state of Texas, including 47 pipelines and 13 Class VI Geological Storage projects. These projects are currently primarily funded through tax breaks and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) subsides; the report authors found little evidence of any private investments.
"Our report clearly lays out the way carbon capture tax credits rig the system in favor of the oil and gas industry to the tune of billions of dollars," Empower's Samuel Rosado said in a statement. "Public funding and tax breaks are the largest sources of revenue for CCS projects. Without the massive federal investment, the private sector deems most CCS projects unprofitable."
The main tax credit for CCS is the 45Q tax credit, which assigns a dollar amount for every metric ton of carbon dioxide captured and permanently stored. While this credit was first created by the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, the Inflation Reduction Act expanded it, raising the credit to $85 per metric ton. At the same time, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act earmarked more than $8 billion for the DOE's CCS programs.
"These are the key bills that were enacted that enabled CCS to be at least more financially available than it previously was," Rosado said in the briefing.
Yet climate and accountability advocates are concerned that the money is being misdirected.
Powell noted that CCS technology had been around for 50 years, but had failed to advance.
"All of these projects have been largely unprofitable, and they haven't expanded the way that renewables and other climate solutions have, primarily because the technology is problematic," Powell said. "It's unsafe, it's fraught with mechanical failures, and not to mention wildly expensive when compared to other climate solutions."
Dominic Chacon of the Texas Campaign for the Environment said that industry boosting of CCS amounted to a form of "greenwashing."
"It is essentially a marketing PR branding ploy to downplay the obvious risks associated with fossil fuels, to try and rebrand this industry as something that we need for the future," Chacon said.
Autumn Hanna, the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, noted that there was a history of fraud in past allocation of CCS subsidies.
"A Treasury investigation found that from 2010 to 2019, 90% of tax credit claimants failed to comply with IRS [Internal Revenue Service] and EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] requirements," Hanna said in a statement. "Instead of throwing good money after bad, we should focus our limited resources on climate solutions we know are safe and effective."
At the same time, most federal CCS subsides actually ended up going toward injecting carbon dioxide into depleted oil wells in order to extract even more oil, which is currently the only profitable use of the technology.
"Continuing to funnel these subsidies and tax breaks to the oil companies, which mostly use it to extract more fossil fuels, really weakens its supposed climate benefits," Hanna said in the briefing.
In Texas specifically, there are concerns about the safety of CCS infrastructure and its impact on ecosystems and communities, given the state's weak regulatory culture.
"We need to chart a new course here in Texas and in Washington to incentivize climate solutions that actually work."
"Our state oil and gas regulator, the Railroad Commission of Texas, is reluctant to oversee the industry in a way that protects people and the environment," Powell said.
The Empower report found that 19 CCS projects overlap with at least 24 million acres of water, threatening both coastal and river environments. The report authors also ran into a lack of transparency.
After filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Environmental Protect Agency to access data about CCS projects, they received documents with entire pages redacted on the behest of the companies and with the permission of the EPA.
"This is very dangerous when it comes to corporate accountability and transparency on environmental issues, because entire pages were redacted from FOIA requests and public information requests that are incredibly important for communities and safety in these communities," Rosado said.
The advocates called for greater transparency and accountability around public financing for untested and expensive climate solutions.
"I think it's important for us to ask ourselves, if carbon capture is receiving so much public dollars, why is there little public input?" Chacon asked. "There is no public transparency on this technology."
Hanna called for putting "the breaks on the whole thing until we start to really answer some big questions that are out there instead of just autopilot expansions and extensions that carry huge costs and, again, leave us with these big questions and this lack of transparency and oversight."
Community organizations in the Lone Star State are petitioning the EPA to reject the Texas Railroad Commission's request to have primary oversight over CCS projects in the state.
"Allowing Texas to continue down this path is irresponsible and only serves oil and gas interests. That's why it's critical that the Environmental Protection Agency not hand over regulation of dangerous CCS projects to the Railroad Commission of Texas, which has shown that it's in the pocket of fossil fuel companies, which stand to profit while putting our communities at risk," Powell said in a statement. "We need to chart a new course here in Texas and in Washington to incentivize climate solutions that actually work."
To that end, Commission Shift is also urging concerned residents to comment on new EPA draft permits for CCS projects in the Permian Basin.
"Let them know we need an extension to review the permits and that we really just don't want these here in the Permian, it's not the right place for all these projects," Powell said.
"There is extensive evidence that these systems are being used in violation of U.S. and international law," said the senator.
Demanding that the Biden administration follow the lead of several close U.S. allies in recent months, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday announced his intention to take action on the Senate floor to stop the flow of American weapons to Israel.
The Vermont independent said in a statement that he plans to file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) regarding the sale of offensive weapons to the Middle Eastern country, which for nearly a year has bombarded civilian infrastructure and blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians and pushing the enclave into famine.
The JRD is the only congressional mechanism that can prevent weapons sales from moving forward, and after months of demanding the Biden administration end military support for Israel, Sanders said that "Congress must act to save lives, uphold U.S. and international law, and stand up for U.S. interests."
HuffPost journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed reported that other lawmakers, including Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are involved in the JRD effort, "a key factor in how much support this can get" before a vote, which would "most likely" take place in November.
After a Hamas-led attack last October, said Sanders on Wednesday, Israel did not "have the right to wage an all-out war against the Palestinian people, which is what Prime Minister Netanyahu's extremist government has done."
"As a result of Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid into Gaza, many thousands of children there face malnutrition and even starvation," said the senator. "Sadly, and illegally, much of the carnage in Gaza has been carried out with U.S.-provided military equipment. Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate U.S. and international law."
Sanders noted that continuing to export weapons to Israel—like the $20 billion in arms sales that President Joe Biden approved in August—would violate U.S. laws including the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), as U.S. weapons have been directly linked to attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Palestinian civilians.
As Amnesty International reported in April, the IDF used U.S. bombs and other weapons in several attacks, including four strikes in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that killed at least 95 civilians, including 42 children last December and January.
Sanders noted that other weapons included in the August arms sales approval—Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), totaling $262 million; and 120mm tank rounds, totaling $774.1 million—were "particularly concerning, given their indiscriminate use in Gaza."
The senator cited an Israeli JDAM strike on October 31, 2023 in Jabalia, which killed at least 126 civilians, including 69 children. He also pointed to the 120mm tank rounds used by the IDF in Gaza City on January 29, 2024 in an attack that killed six-year-old Hind Rajab and two paramedics.
"There is extensive evidence that these systems are being used in violation of U.S. and international law," said Sanders, citing the administration's own report pursuant to National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), which stated that "it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm."
"In light of this reality," said Sanders, "it is inappropriate to move ahead with these sales."
The senator noted that U.S. allies including the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands are among those that have restricted weapons sales to Israel, with officials citing the risk that the transfers could make their governments complicit in violations of international law.
"The sales would reward Netanyahu's extremist government, even as it continues to cause massive destruction in Gaza, undermine the prospects of a cease-fire deal that would secure the release of the hostages, and advance its effort to illegally annex the West Bank," said Sanders. "We must end our complicity in Israel's illegal and indiscriminate military campaign, which has caused mass civilian death and suffering."
James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute, applauded Sanders' plan to file the JRD, calling it a "critically important step to block $20 billion in U.S. arms to Israel."
"Genocide in Gaza, annexation in the West Bank, and expansion of the war in Lebanon will continue as long as Israel's impunity continues," said Zogby. "We must act now."