GUESS WHO

US senator tries to force debate on 'humanitarian cataclysm' in Gaza
Patricia Zengerle
Fri, December 15, 2023 

Smoke rises inside northern Gaza Strip following an airstrike, as seen from southern Israel

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a resolution on Friday seeking a report from President Joe Biden's administration and debate on Israel's bombing of Gaza, citing the heavy toll on non-combatants.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, sought to force debate under a provision in U.S. foreign assistance law prohibiting security assistance to any government that "engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" and lets Congress vote to demand a report on a country's human rights practices.

If a resolution requesting the information passes, the Department of State must submit a report within 30 days, or all security assistance to the country in question is cut off.

However, it was not clear how much support any such resolution might receive, as U.S. lawmakers - both Democrats and Republicans - have for years approved huge amounts of military assistance for Israel with very few restrictions.

Sanders' resolution acknowledged Israel's right to respond to the Oct. 7 attack on Israelis by Islamist Hamas militants. However, he deplored the extent of the suffering in Gaza.

"This is a humanitarian cataclysm, and it is being done with American bombs and money. We need to face up to that fact – and then we need to end our complicity in those actions," Sanders said in a statement.

Unrelenting Israeli bombardment has laid much of the Gaza strip to waste, with nearly 19,000 people confirmed dead, according to Palestinian health officials.

Washington has been pressing Israel for weeks to do more to reduce civilian casualties as a global outcry over a spreading humanitarian catastrophe has intensified.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, after the group's fighters stormed Israeli communities and killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages on Oct. 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government says Hamas uses civilians as shields, an allegation the group denies, but allies and adversaries alike say Israel has done too little to protect non-combatants.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)