Stop Military Aid to Israel

Egregious human rights violations of human rights and rules of war by Israel continue, day after day, supported by U.S. military aid. The United States must stop supporting the slaughter that already has killed more than 19,000 people in Gaza and displaced more than 80 percent of the entire population. Our continued military assistance to Israel makes us complicit in ongoing war crimes.  

Senator Bernie Sanders has begun one process that could halt U.S. military aid. I’m writing to urge my Senators to support that initiative and to vote outright to end military aid to Israel. 

After the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel’s counter-attack on Hamas was expected and its self-defense justified. The extreme and continuing violations of human rights and rules of war are not excused by self-defense. There are lines that may never be crossed. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross maintains a database of customary international humanitarian law. These include:

Rule 1. The parties to the conflict must at all times distinguish between civilians and combatants. Attacks may only be directed against combatants. Attacks must not be directed against civilians.

Rule 2. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.

Rule 7. The parties to the conflict must at all times distinguish between civilian objects and military objectives. Attacks may only be directed against military objectives. Attacks must not be directed against civilian objects.

On October 9, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we must act accordingly.”

Israeli bombing has razed orchards, fields, and greenhouses, destroying infrastructure necessary to produce food now and in the future.  More than one-third of all homes in Gaza have been destroyed, including more than half of all homes in Gaza City. Many more homes have been severely damaged, though not completely destroyed. 

In the early days after the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel ordered a million Gazans to leave the south and seek safety in the north. Those who obeyed found no safety. Since then, Israel has attacked the south as well, killing civilians who fled there for safety. 

Rule 31. Humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected.

More than 100 U.N. aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war. According to a U.N. statement, they include “school principals, teachers, health workers, including a gynaecologist, engineers, support staff and a psychologist.” 

Rule 34. Civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities.

Israel has barred western journalists from entering Gaza unless they are embedded with Israeli troops and submit to prior review before publishing. The dead children, the bombed and bulldozed hospital grounds where refugees sheltered, the mass graves dug by hand because there is no other way—these have been verified, photographed, videoed, broadcast around the world by local journalists, operating at great personal risk. 

At least 90 journalists have been killed in Gaza, far more than in any other armed conflict in 30 years. Some, including a team from Agence France Presse, Reuters, and Al Jazeera, have been deliberately targeted by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Israel has repeatedly cut off all internet and other communication access in Gaza. 

Rule 35. Directing an attack against a zone established to shelter the wounded, the sick and civilians from the effects of hostilities is prohibited.

As of December 19, Reuters reported:

“Nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s hospitals, or 27 of 36, are out of action due to damage in attacks, Israeli raids and lack of fuel and staff, the WHO says. Those still open are only partly functional and under growing pressure due to both strikes and growing numbers of sick and injured patients arriving.

“’I’m furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals,’ said James Elder, spokesperson for the U.N. children’s agency.

“He added that the Nasser Hospital, the largest operational hospital left in the enclave where he spent time earlier this month, had been shelled twice in the past 48 hours. He said one of the victims was a 13-year-old amputee named Dina who survived a strike on her home that killed her family.”

Rule 53. The use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare is prohibited.

Rule 54. Attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population is prohibited.

Human Rights Watch documents and links to multiple statements by high-ranking Israeli officials saying that they will deny all food, water, fuel, and humanitarian aid to all of Gaza and completely destroy the civilian infrastructure. 

“In a video posted online on November 4, Col. Yogev Bar-Shesht, deputy head of the Civil Administration, said in an interview from inside Gaza, ‘Whoever returns here, if they return here after, will find scorched earth. No houses, no agriculture, no nothing. They have no future.’” 

Starvation and deprivation of water as deliberate strategies successfully target the civilian population in Gaza. The U.N. World Food Program reported on December 14 that:

• 56 percent of households in Gaza were experiencing severe levels of hunger;

• Nearly all internally displaced households—which comprise 80 percent of all Gazans—report inadequate food consumption; 

• Access to water is less than 2 liters per person per day, 15 liters short of “basic survival-level water requirements;”

The situation continues to worsen. On December 20, Al Jazeera reported:

“Huge masses of displaced people herded into the southern Gaza Strip by the war are accessing only 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day, well below the recommended requirement for survival, the UN agency stated on Wednesday. …

“UNICEF says that 3 litres are required daily for survival. The amount rises to 15 litres if water required for washing and cooking is also counted.”

Rule 55. The parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, which is impartial in character and conducted without any adverse distinction, subject to their right of control.

After a seven-day break allowed return of some Israeli hostages and passage of some humanitarian aid, Israel resumed its blockade of most humanitarian aid. 

Rule 103. Collective punishments are prohibited.

The population of Gaza is about 2.2 million. The number of Hamas fighters is estimated at 30-40,000. Israeli targeting of the entire population of Gaza constitutes a collective punishment.

Rule 156. Serious violations of international humanitarian law constitute war crimes.

We are complicit in those war crimes. The United States must stop blocking U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire. The United States must stop sending military aid to Israel. There are lines that may never be crossed.