The Siege Of Gaza Must End
On Thursday, November 2, 2023 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Republican plan to provide $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel—the entire amount requested by President Biden. Because this spending bill cuts funding to the Internal Revenue Service, and does not include requested aid for the war in Ukraine, this House plan in its current form will not pass in the U.S. Senate.
Israel already receives $3.8 billion per year in U.S. military assistance. Additionally, President Joe Biden has been transferring U.S. arms to Israel, including a planned $320 million transfer of the Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies, a type of precision guided bomb fired by warplanes. (Wall Street Journal 11/6/23)
Unlike its military aid program for Ukraine, the Biden administration has not made public the quantities of weapons it is sending to Israel. According to The Washington Post (11/9/23), the White House is also seeking authority to bypass notifying Congress of the U.S. weapons transfers it makes to Israel. “At a time when thousands of civilians are being killed by weapons provided by the U.S. government, the American people deserve to be fully informed about what is being provided to other countries, including Israel, with their tax dollars,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), told The Washington Post. “The Biden administration should provide the same transparency around arms transfers to Israel that it has for Ukraine and other countries.”
Over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since the retaliatory assault on Gaza began. Most recently, Israeli tanks and troops surrounded hospitals in the Gaza territory and attacked them, leading to even more civilian deaths. Al-Shifa Hospital, the primary hospital in Gaza, experienced a loss of power causing the deaths of patients, including newborns.
As the civilian death toll rises, anger in the Middle East over the Israeli invasion of Gaza is increasingly directed at the United States and not just Israel. The Israeli attacks on Gaza are enabled by U.S. weaponry and, according to The WashingtonPost (Nov 11, 2023), “the perceived U.S. acceptance of attacks on refugee camps, hospitals and apartment buildings could shatter American influence” in the Middle East for years to come.
As the crisis in Gaza continues, it is imperative that the role of the United States change from arms provider to humanitarian aid provider. This means that the United States must become a serious peace maker. Israelis should not have to live in fear surrounded by terrorists; Palestinians should not be denied autonomous statehood.
We must use our diplomatic might to seek a true ceasefire that is not merely a humanitarian pause in fighting, but an indispensable first step toward a lasting solution. This ceasefire must be instrumented along with an end to the siege of Gaza, the release of the hostages held by Hamas, and a return of autonomy for the Palestinian people.
