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Why Markey and Warren backed Sanders’ effort to look into possible Israeli human rights violations
Although both Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren backed the resolution, it was roundly rejected.
Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren were among the 11 senators who voted in favor of a resolution that would have required the State Department to examine potential human rights abuses perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont forced a vote on the resolution Tuesday, but senators overwhelmingly rejected it. Even if it had passed, it would not have immediately impacted the flow of U.S. aid to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is waging a historically destructive military campaign in the enclave in response to the Oct. 7 attacks perpetrated by Hamas.
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The Biden administration would have been required to submit a report within 30 days about any potential human rights abuses and how U.S. weapons have been used in the war.
Almost half of the air-to-ground munitions used by Israel in Gaza have been unguided, or “dumb” bombs, CNN reported last month. These munitions can pose massive risks to civilians in densely populated areas like Gaza, and the reporting draws Israel’s claims that it is doing everything possible to reduce civilian casualties into question. Sanders cited CNN’s report in the text of the resolution.
More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, including at least 10,000 children. Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage in the attacks on southern Israel that triggered the latest war.
Markey: Israel must stop ‘indiscriminately bombing Gaza’
In a statement explaining his support of the resolution, Markey called out Netanyahu’s government and its war efforts. He condemned Hamas’ “heinous” attack and reaffirmed that Israel has a right to defend itself, but criticized the level of destruction in Gaza.
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“An enduring peace that recognizes two states for two peoples will not be possible unless the extremist right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stops indiscriminately bombing Gaza, killing innocent Palestinians in the process, and continuing the grave humanitarian crisis that has led the United Nations humanitarian chief to describe Gaza as ‘uninhabitable,’” Markey said in the statement.
Warren cast her vote alongside Markey and Sanders, The Washington Post reported.
“Congress cannot give Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing government a blank check. I support efforts to ensure the U.S. government investigates whether Israel’s use of U.S. weapons is in violation of international humanitarian law and to keep up the pressure on the Israeli government to change course in Gaza,” Warren said in a statement to Boston.com.
Biden admin disagrees on strategy
Although President Joe Biden has said Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza is causing the country to lose international support, his administration said it was opposed to the resolution because it is not the “right vehicle to address these issues.” In a statement to the Post, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby highlighted Israel’s claims that it is preparing to “transition their operations to a much lower intensity.”
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Sanders said that the information the resolution would provide is valuable regardless of one’s positions on the war.
“This is information Congress should have and, whatever your views on this war, this resolution should be something you can support. If you believe that the campaign has been indiscriminate, as I do, then we have a responsibility to ask this question. If you believe Israel has done nothing wrong, then this information should support that belief,” Sanders said in a speech on the Senate floor last week.
Senators not on Sanders’ side
His efforts to gin up support were in vain. Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the resolution “performative left-wing politics,” while Democrats like Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin said that it was “a gift to Hamas, a gift to Iran [and] an indictment against Israel,” per the Post.
Israel is facing allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, drawing attention to comments like the ones made by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir about “encouraging the migration” of Gazans out of the enclace.
“For decades, I have steadfastly stood by Israel, and I will always stand with the State of Israel and its people and support its right to exist. But the Netanyahu government cannot continue to conduct the war in Gaza the way it has until now,” Markey said in his statement. “It must protect innocent Gazan civilians, negotiate the return of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, and unequivocally commit that it will not engage in a forcible mass transfer of Palestinian civilians from Gaza.”
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