Nancy Pelosi is calling on President Biden to halt the shipment of US weaponry in the Israel-Gaza conflict
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a significant friend of Joe Biden, signed a letter to President and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday on behalf of several dozen congressional Democrats requesting an end to arms deliveries to Israel.
The world community has been increasingly critical of Israel’s military invasion of Gaza as the tiny coastal enclave is experiencing severe starvation and the Gaza health ministry has stated that over 33,000 people have died in the conflict. The attack on October 7 was carried out by the Palestinian Islamist party Hamas.
Veteran Democratic Party member Pelosi’s support for halting the shipment of arms to Israel demonstrated that the position is gaining traction inside the party.
The letter dated Friday demanded that the Biden administration look into an Israeli bombing that claimed the lives of seven employees of World Central Kitchen on Monday.
“In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers,” the letter said. Along with Pelosi, 36 other Democrats signed it, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Barbara Lee, and Rashida Tlaib.
Following significant mistakes and procedural violations discovered during an investigation into the killings of the humanitarian workers, the Israeli military said on Friday that it had fired two officers and publicly reprimanded senior commanders. During a Thursday phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden threatened to reverse US policy unless Israel took more steps to safeguard civilians.
1,200 people were murdered in Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israel, according to Israeli estimates. Following that, Israel launched a military operation against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, uprooting almost all of its 2.3 million inhabitants and sparking accusations of genocide, which Israel refutes.
