Twenty Democrats are calling for the maintenance of US laws that prohibit the arming of countries that block humanitarian aid.

Washington, DC - Twenty Democratic lawmakers in the United States have called on the administration of President Joe Biden to halt the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel, noting that the Israeli government has not complied with American demands for more aid to Entering Gaza.

In a letter addressed to the Secretary of State Antony Blinken On Tuesday, members of Congress called on Washington to uphold its own laws that limit military aid to countries that commit war crimes and block US-backed humanitarian aid.

"We believe that continuing to provide offensive weapons to the Israeli government prolongs the suffering of the Palestinian people and endangers our own national security by sending a message to the world that the US will selectively apply its laws, policies and international law ,” the letter said. said.

It added that failure to act would prolong Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war on Gaza, "isolate Israel on the international stage and create further instability in the region".

The letter was led by Summer Lee and Greg Casar, who were recently elected to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus next year. Pramila Jayapal.

It is unlikely that the pressure will convince Biden and Blinken, who have repeatedly pledged their "iron-clad" support for Israel, to change course. But it underscores the continued progressive pressure on the US administration over its Middle East policy.

It also highlights Casar as a critic of Israel before becoming the chairman of the influential Progressive Caucus.

Today, I'm leading 20 members of Congress to demand that the Biden admin withhold offensive weapons from the Israeli military.

US law is clear: if the Netanyahu government does not allow enough food and medicine to enter Gaza, the US cannot send weapons. pic.twitter.com/NHhhZMuGt1

— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) December 17, 2024

The congressional statement focuses on the Biden administration ultimatum to Israel in October, when US officials warned Israel in a letter to allow the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza within 30 days or face consequences.

Although several humanitarian groups said Israel had not met the conditions set out by Washington to improve the situation in Gaza, the Biden administration said after the deadline that it would continue to provided weapons to Israel.

"While Israel has made nominal progress in some areas, it has overwhelmingly fallen short of the minimum standards outlined in the Administration's own letter," the lawmakers wrote.

For example, US officials demanded that 350 aid trucks be allowed into the besieged Palestinian territory. But an average of 42 trucks were allowed into Gaza daily during the 30-day period.

In fact, humanitarian groups - including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children - accused Israel of taking "actions that have dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, especially in northern Gaza" after the US warning .

"Israel has failed to meet its ally's demands - at enormous human cost to Palestinian civilians in Gaza," the groups said in a joint statement last month.

A suffocating Israeli blockade has brought deadly hunger to Gaza. The war, which destroyed large parts of Gaza, has killed more than 45,000 peopleaccording to local health authorities.

United Nations experts and various real groups accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza - an attempt to partially or fully destroy the Palestinian people.

The International Criminal Court issued last month arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over suspected war crimes in Gaza, including the use of hunger as a weapon of war.

But the US remained steadfast in its support for its ally. A recent Brown University study estimated that the Biden administration Provided $17.9 billion to Israel to help finance the first year of the war against Gaza.

Tuesday's congressional letter coincided with the filing a lawsuit by Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the US aimed at forcing Washington to end military support to Israeli army units involved in human rights abuses.