More US lawmakers urge Biden to end support for Israel’s Gaza war
US President Joe Biden faces growing pressure domestically, including from members of his own Democratic Party, to stop providing unconditional backing for Israel as the country launches deadly attacks on Rafah and other parts of Gaza.
Democratic Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman is the latest to join a chorus of calls from Congress members to end US support for Israel’s war. “We are way past the red line,” she said on X. “We cannot continue supporting this. Nobody is safer because of this.”
US Senator Chris Van Hollen also told CNN that the US “can and should be using more leverage” with its top ally.
“The United States taxpayers have funded billions of dollars of weapons that have gone to the Netanyahu government, so it is time for the Biden administration to exercise more leverage to achieve the president’s own stated goals,” Van Hollen said.
We are way past the red line.
The recent strikes on a Palestinian refugee camp, which killed dozens — including children burned alive in their tents — are unconscionable.
We cannot continue supporting this. Nobody is safer because of this.
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) May 29, 2024
Israel is fully planning to keep the war going for the rest of the year, while Eisenkot even talks about 3 to 5 years before retreating from Gaza. Biden only has until November to salvage his campaign and not let Trump ruin the USA further. He can't wait any longer, it's only getting worse the longer the US keeps supporting Israel.
Israel’s attack on Gaza: ‘Designated 2024 as a year of war’
A top Israeli official says Israel’s war on Gaza is likely to last through the end of the year – a grim prediction for a conflict that has killed tens of thousands, deepened Israel’s global isolation, and brought the region to the brink of a wider conflagration.
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told Kan public radio he’s “expecting another seven months of fighting” to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.
“The army is achieving its objectives,” but it said from the start the “war will be long. They have designated 2024 as a year of war”.
Biden’s red lines for Israel ‘maybe simply don’t actually exist’
US political analyst Eli Clifton says the Biden administration’s continued support for Israel despite recent deadly attacks on Rafah raises a stark question about the American president’s Middle East policies.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Biden White House is either uninterested in enforcing any red lines on Israel, or that these red lines maybe simply don’t actually exist,” Clifton, a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera.
He added that there are two reasons underlying Biden’s stance.
“On the domestic political front, there is a fear of offending voters and donors, coming into what’s going to be a hotly contested American presidential election” in November, Clifton said.
“But there’s also the strategic reason that undergirds this and which is very consistent across administrations of doubling down on what is arguably a failed strategy of embracing the Israelis, embracing Netanyahu, closely – with the belief that by doing so, one can influence their decision-making.”
Israel’s defence chief threatens Lebanon with ‘harsh reality’
Israel’s army has killed 320 Hezbollah fighters since October 8 in cross-border attacks, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says.
He made the claim during a televised news conference following an “operational assessment” of the Northern Command. Gallant accused Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah of dragging Lebanon into a “harsh reality”.
“The ones who will pay the price are the residents of Lebanon and Hezbollah forces,” said Gallant, showing images purportedly of dead Hezbollah fighters.
Lebanon is the alternative in case a ceasefire somehow is forced. Netanyahu can only stay in power by continuing the state of war. The actual harsh reality is that Hezbollah is fully capable of defending itself and striking anywhere in Israel.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanons-hezbollah-what-weapons-does-it-have-2023-10-30/
