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"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."
"The vast majority of countries have made it clear: Israel's occupation of Palestine must end, and all countries have a definite duty not to aid or assist its continuation."
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding that the Israeli government end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months, affirming a recent International Court of Justice opinion that deemed the decadeslong occupation unlawful.
The Palestine-led resolution, co-sponsored by dozens of nations, calls on Israel to swiftly withdraw "all its military forces" from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The final vote tally was 124 member states in favor and 14 against, with 43 nations abstaining.
Unsurprisingly, Israel and the United States—Israel's top ally and arms supplier—were among the 14 countries that opposed the resolution, which is not legally binding. The United Kingdom, which recently suspended some arms export licenses for Israel, abstained from Wednesday's vote, a decision that the advocacy group Global Justice Now (GJN) said shows "complete disregard for the ongoing suffering of Palestinians forced to live under military-enforced racial discrimination."
"The vast majority of countries have made it clear: Israel's occupation of Palestine must end, and all countries have a definite duty not to aid or assist its continuation," said GJN's Tim Bierley. "To stay on the right side of international law, the U.K.'s dealings with Israel must drastically change, including closing all loopholes in its partial arms ban and revoking any trade or investment relations that might assist the occupation."
The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement welcomed passage of the resolution, noting that the U.N. General Assembly voted "for the first time in 42 years" in favor of "imposing sanctions on Israel."
The resolution specifically calls on all U.N. member states to "implement sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against natural and legal persons engaged in the maintenance of Israel's unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in relation to settler violence."
The resolution's passage came nearly two months after the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the U.N.'s highest legal body, handed down an advisory opinion concluding that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must end "as rapidly as possible."
The newly approved resolution states that "respect for the International Court of Justice and its functions... is essential to international law and justice and to an international order based on the rule of law."
The Biden administration, which is heavily arming the Israeli military as it assails Gaza and the West Bank, criticized the ICJ's opinion as overly broad.
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement Wednesday that "the Biden administration should join the overwhelming majority of nations around the world in condemning these crimes against the Palestinian people, demanding an end to the occupation, and exerting serious pressure on the Israeli government to comply."
"We welcome this U.N. resolution demanding an end to one of the worst and ongoing crimes against humanity of the past century," said Awad.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, a group of U.N. experts said in a statement that many countries "appear unwilling or unable to take the necessary steps to meet their obligations" in the wake of the ICJ's opinion.
"Devastating attacks on Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory show that by continuing to turn a blind eye to the horrific plight of the Palestinian people, the international community is furthering genocidal violence," the experts said. "States must act now. They must listen to voices calling on them to take action to stop Israel's attacks against the Palestinians and end its unlawful occupation. All states have a legal obligation to comply with the ICJ's ruling and must promote adherence to norms that protect civilians."
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that "there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that."
Update: The death toll from Wednesday's attacks has risen to at least 20, with more than 450 others injured, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Earlier: A day after an Israeli attack caused thousands of pagers to explode across Lebanon, killing a dozen people including children and wounding over 2,800 others, new explosions of battery-powered devices killed at least nine more people and injured upward of 300 others around the Middle Eastern country, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Multiple Lebanese and international media outlets reported that targets of Wednesday's attacks included people attending funerals of those killed by the previous day's explosions.
"Anyone who has a device, take out the battery now! Turn off your phones, switch it to airplane mode," Hezbollah security members commanded mourners at one funeral in a Beirut suburb, according to The Washington Post.
While the source of Wednesday's blasts—which reportedly targeted smartphones, car radios, walkie-talkies, solar power components, and other devices—was not immediately clear, several media outlets confirmed that the previous day's attacks were carried out by Israeli military and intelligence operatives targeting members of the Lebanese political and paramilitary group Hezbollah.
Among the reported victims of the pager attacks were two children— Fatima Abdullah, a 9-year-old girl; and Bilal Kanj, an 11-year-old boy.
The device explosions came amid ongoing Hezbollah attacks on Israel with rockets, armed drones, and other projectiles that have killed dozens of people, including Druze children playing soccer in the illegally occupied Golan Heights in Syria.
Hezbollah vowed Wednesday that Israel would suffer a "difficult reckoning" in response to the device attacks. The group is allied with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and led the October 7 attack on Israel. Israel's ongoing retaliation—for which it is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice—has left more than 146,000 Palestinians dead, injured, or missing.
Numerous observers including experts on international law said the Israeli device attacks fit the legal definition of terrorism.
Pointing to video footage of a pager detonating in a crowded market, Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, wrote that "each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack," and that "under these circumstances, this is an act of terror."
In a Wednesday briefing, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned against the weaponization of civilian objects.
"What has happened is particularly serious, not only because of the number of victims that it caused, but because of the indications that exist that this was triggered, I would say, in advance of a normal way to trigger these things, because there was a risk of this being discovered," Guterres said.
"This event confirms that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that escalation," he added.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter condemned what she called Israel's "brutal escalation of violence."
"Silence is not an option," she added. "An international investigation is called for. The bloodshed must end."
"Each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack," argued Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
Several news outlets confirmed late Tuesday what was widely suspected: Israel's military and intelligence services were behind the explosions of pagers recently purchased by the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah.
The explosions, reportedly set off earlier Tuesday by a message that appeared as if it was from Hezbollah's leadership, killed at least 11 people—including an 8-year-old girl—and wounded thousands more.
Citing both an unnamed former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation and an anonymous U.S. official, Axios reported that "Israeli intelligence services planned to use the booby-trapped pagers it managed to 'plant' in Hezbollah's ranks as a surprise opening blow in an all-out war to try to cripple Hezbollah."
"But in recent days, Israeli leaders became concerned that Hezbollah might discover the pagers," the outlet continued. "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his top ministers, and the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and the intelligence agencies decided to use the system now rather than take the risk of it being detected by Hezbollah, a U.S. official said."
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department publicly denied that the Biden administration was involved in the attack or aware of the operation in advance.
Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, wrote Tuesday that "each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack," pointing to video footage of a pager detonating in a crowded market.
"Under these circumstances," Matthews added, "this is an act of terror."
בסופר ובחנות הירקות: תיעוד נוסף של מכשיר קשר מתפוצץ לפעילי חיזבאללה בכיס@anastasia___stu @OmerShahar123 pic.twitter.com/OcjQsGLhvv
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 17, 2024
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Hezbollah ordered thousands of pagers from the Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, but the company denied making the devices. According to the Times, which cited unnamed officials, Israeli operatives "tampered with" the devices "before they reached Lebanon," planting in them "as little as one to two ounces" of explosive material and a switch "that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives."
Heightening fears of a broader conflict, Hezbollah pledged Tuesday to retaliate against Israel over the attack, which reportedly injured Iran's ambassador to Lebanon as well as Hezbollah fighters and medics.
The Guardian's Andrew Roth noted Tuesday that just "a day before the coordinated sabotage, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to [U.S. President] Joe Biden, was in Israel urging Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials against an escalation in Lebanon."
Netanyahu has repeatedly sabotaged cease-fire negotiations with hardline demands in recent weeks as the Israeli military—heavily armed by the U.S.—continues to assail the Gaza Strip.
"While U.S. officials have said that the basis for peace along Israel's northern boundary with Lebanon would come through a cease-fire in Gaza, that agreement has proven elusive and appears no closer to fruition," Roth wrote Tuesday. "The White House had hoped that a period of quiet around Israel would allow for cease-fire negotiators to achieve a breakthrough, as intermediaries shuttle between Hamas and Israel to thread the needle of both sides' complex demands regarding a hostage exchange and territorial claims."
"That period of quiet has now been shattered with a breathtaking act of subterfuge and Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate," Roth added.