A coalition of House Democrats scolded the White House in a letter on Friday for pausing weapons shipments to Israel at a “critical moment” during the stalled cease-fire negotiations process, saying it will send Hamas terrorists the wrong message.
Twenty-six Democratic lawmakers, led by Representative Josh Gottheimer (D., N.J.), said the move “only emboldens” Hamas and Iran’s other proxies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis. “It also buttresses their agenda of chaos, brutality, and hate, and makes a hostage agreement even harder to achieve,” the letter reads.
About 130 hostages, including eight Americans, are still being held by Hamas, the congressmen said. It’s unclear how many of the hostages are still alive.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration will not supply some arms to the Israeli military if it proceeds with a large-scale ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza, where Hamas is based. The paused shipment included about 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday.
Jean-Pierre said the U.S. withheld the package over concerns about the large munitions being used in an urban setting. Roughly 1.5 million Palestinians, which is about half of Gaza’s population, have been sheltering in Rafah due to Israel’s war effort.
“We are especially focused on the end use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza,” she said. “We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment.”
Responding to Biden’s announcement, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday, “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our nails.”
Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces took military action in Rafah and struck Hamas targets in the eastern part of the city. The targeted action came after Hamas launched rockets from Rafah toward the Israeli border on Sunday, killing at least four Israeli soldiers and injuring ten others.
Israel stressed that the Rafah operation was limited at its start. However, the Israeli war cabinet voted to expand the scope of the military offensive late Thursday. The expansion is not expected to cross Biden’s “red line,” according to Axios.
While the president said he will not support a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the 26 House Democrats believe that blocking aid will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Stalling these shipments will allow terror groups to continue stealing humanitarian aid, ultimately putting innocent Palestinians at even greater risk,” they wrote.
“We have a duty to continue to equip Israel with the resources she needs to defend herself and crush the terrorists who also seek to do America harm, free the hostages including the Americans, continue delivering critical humanitarian aid to innocent civilians in Gaza, and to stand by our democratic allies around the world,” they added.
At the end of the letter, Gottheimer and his colleagues asked national security adviser Jake Sullivan for a classified briefing to discuss the Biden administration’s decision to hinder Israel’s war effort. They also requested answers as to exactly how and when the $17 billion in defense aid that Congress passed last month as part of a national-security package will be sent to Israel.