Dozens of former US officials pen letter urging Biden to take firmer line with Israel
Almost 70 former US officials, diplomats and military officers have urged President Joe Biden to take a firmer stance with Israel over its actions in Gaza, as well as the expansion of settlements and failure to respect civil liberties in the occupied West Bank.
“The United States must be willing to take concrete action to oppose” such practices, the group said in an open letter to Biden.
The collection of a dozen former ambassadors, as well as retired State Department officials and former Pentagon, intelligence and White House officials, also said that this concrete action must include “restrictions on provision of [US] assistance [to Israel] consistent with US law and policy”.
The letter also highlighted growing dismay in the US over the mounting death toll from Israeli operations in Gaza, and while it said an assault on Hamas was “necessary and justified”, Israel’s actions “have been marked by repeated violations”.
Netanyahu tells US Republican senators that Gaza war will continue
Benjamin Netanyahu has told Republican Senators that Israel will continue its efforts to defeat Hamas in Gaza, US lawmakers have said, after the Israeli prime minister addressed them via videolink.
“We asked … him for an update, and we got it on the war, on the release of the hostages and in the efforts to defeat Hamas. We told him Israel has every right to defend themselves, and he said that’s exactly what they continue to do,” Senator John Barrasso said.
Netanyahu’s speech came almost a week after Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader and the US’s most senior Jewish politician, gave a speech branding Netanyahu an obstacle to peace and urging elections be held in Israel.
Earlier we reported that US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said he was considering inviting Netanyahu to address Congress.
Netanyahu tells US senators 28,000 people killed in Gaza
On his virtual call with US Republican Senators on Wednesday, Netanyahu estimated the death toll in Gaza at 28,000, Senator Josh Hawley has told The New York Times. That figure places the number killed in the besieged enclave since Israel began its offensive in October at 4,000 lower than Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which estimates at least 31,923 deaths as of March 20.
Hawley told The New York Times that Netanyahu insisted that Israel was making every effort to minimise civilian casualties. “He was very mindful of it, he talked about it at some length,” Hawley said.
It's likely much more than 31,923, yet still 28,000 in 6 months is a horrible number, especially with over 13,000 children killed.
Israel submits assurances to US on use of weapons
The Israeli government has submitted written assurances required by the State Department that weapons it received from the US are not being used to violate international law in Gaza, the Reuters news agency reports, quoting an unnamed US official.
Israel had until March 24 to submit its written assurances, and the State Department will now assess by early May whether its claims are credible and report its findings to Congress.
President Joe Biden issued a national security memorandum last month reminding countries receiving US-supplied weapons to abide by international law. It also, for the first time, required the US government to submit an annual report to Congress on whether countries are meeting those requirements.
Oh well, if they said so. Writing it down doesn't make it true in the least.
The effects of propaganda
Israelis protest outside UNRWA office in Jerusalem
A small group of Israeli protesters picketed outside the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) office in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday calling for the organisation to be disbanded.
The group waved Israeli flags, laid down bloodied body bags, and held signs with slogans including “UNRWA = Hamas”.
In January, Israel accused 12 of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff members of participating in the October 7 massacres, resulting in many major Western donors withdrawing funding to the embattled UN agency.
UNRWA says Israel has still not provided solid evidence to support these claims, and many donors – including Sweden, Canada and the European Union – have since reinstated funding to the agency, which provides life-saving assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.
Don't ever bring a baby to a pro Palestine demonstration in Israel...
