Israeli attack on Rafah would make ‘unspeakable situation even worse’: US senator
'US cannot continue to provide more bombs and artillery shells to support Netanyahu’s disastrous and inhumane war policies,' Bernie Sanders says
Diyar Guldogan |10.05.2024 -
WASHINGTON
US Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday warned that any Israeli military operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah would further deteriorate the situation in the Gaza Strip.
"An attack on Rafah would simply make an unspeakable situation even worse," Sanders said in a statement.
As a result of the displacement, 80% of the population of Gaza, about 1.3 million people, including 600,000 children, are sheltering in Rafah, he said.
It is "densely crowded" with roughly 50,00 people per square mile, he added.
"President (Joe) Biden is right – the United States cannot continue to provide more bombs and artillery shells to support (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s disastrous and inhumane war policies," Sanders stressed.
Biden paused last week the delivery of a weapons shipment that included 2,000-pound bombs, which Israel previously used to flatten wide swathes of Gaza. Biden’s decision to halt the shipment was made due to his concerns over Israel's planned invasion of Rafah.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack in October, which killed less than 1,200 people.
More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children. Over 78,500 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. Thousands remain missing.
Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN. Most of the displaced have sought refuge in Rafah following earlier Israeli evacuation orders.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in the coastal enclave, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians.
AOC attacks former Bush administration press secretary and Bernie Sanders attacks Israel’s minister of national security on Twitter
Eric Garcia
Washington DC
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 22: U.S. President Joe Biden (R), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) (L) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) walk to the Oval Office after returning to the White House on April 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden and the members of Congress returned to the White House following an Earth Day event in Virginia.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont defended the President Joe Biden’s decision to pause military aid to Israel.
Earlier this week, Biden’s administration paused the shipment of 1,800 bombs that weighed around 2,000lbs (907kg) and 1,700 bombs weighing 500lbs (227kg). In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden acknowledged the hold, saying the United States would not supply Israel with weapons if it attacked Rafah, where numerous Palestinian civilians have taken shelter amid Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Many conservatives criticized the move, including Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary for George W Bush.
“Biden has lost his mind. If he does this, he is helping Hamas to survive — and win,” Mr Flesicher posted on Twitter/X. “I’ll take Donald Trump’s mean tweets any day. None of them is as bad as Biden.”
But Ocasio-Cortez, who supports a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and has criticised Israel’s approach repeatedly, defended Biden.
“Biden has not ‘lost his mind.’ He is upholding the word of the US,” she said. “There are 1.3 million people in Rafah. You do not need to slaughter them to go after Hamas. Biden stated the US red line was Rafah. It would make us weaker & the world less safe to let Bibi, or anyone, cross it.”
In addition, Sanders criticised a tweet from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, who said that Biden loved Hamas.
“This disgusting tweet comes from Israel's extremist National Security Minister, who was convicted by an Israeli court of racist incitement and supporting terrorism,” Sanders, who is Jewish and who lived in Israel during his youth, posted. “This is the government waging war against the entire Palestinian people. We cannot be complicit in Ben-Gvir's war.”
Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez voted against legislation to provide military assistance to Israel.
Elsewhere, Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York criticised his Democratic primary opponent George Latimier for opposing Biden’s actions.
“My opponent refuses to stand with President Biden,” he said. “Make no mistake, this is George Latimer siding with his Republican megadonors over President Biden.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont defended the President Joe Biden’s decision to pause military aid to Israel.
Earlier this week, Biden’s administration paused the shipment of 1,800 bombs that weighed around 2,000lbs (907kg) and 1,700 bombs weighing 500lbs (227kg). In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden acknowledged the hold, saying the United States would not supply Israel with weapons if it attacked Rafah, where numerous Palestinian civilians have taken shelter amid Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Many conservatives criticized the move, including Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary for George W Bush.
“Biden has lost his mind. If he does this, he is helping Hamas to survive — and win,” Mr Flesicher posted on Twitter/X. “I’ll take Donald Trump’s mean tweets any day. None of them is as bad as Biden.”
But Ocasio-Cortez, who supports a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and has criticised Israel’s approach repeatedly, defended Biden.
“Biden has not ‘lost his mind.’ He is upholding the word of the US,” she said. “There are 1.3 million people in Rafah. You do not need to slaughter them to go after Hamas. Biden stated the US red line was Rafah. It would make us weaker & the world less safe to let Bibi, or anyone, cross it.”
In addition, Sanders criticised a tweet from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, who said that Biden loved Hamas.
“This disgusting tweet comes from Israel's extremist National Security Minister, who was convicted by an Israeli court of racist incitement and supporting terrorism,” Sanders, who is Jewish and who lived in Israel during his youth, posted. “This is the government waging war against the entire Palestinian people. We cannot be complicit in Ben-Gvir's war.”
Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez voted against legislation to provide military assistance to Israel.
Elsewhere, Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York criticised his Democratic primary opponent George Latimier for opposing Biden’s actions.
“My opponent refuses to stand with President Biden,” he said. “Make no mistake, this is George Latimer siding with his Republican megadonors over President Biden.”
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