U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib slammed her colleagues Tuesday for continuing to send billions of dollars in aid to Israel after the invasion of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing.
Tlaib condemned her colleagues and President Joe Biden for sending billions in aid “with absolutely no conditions on upholding human rights.”
Fears are mounting that Israel is preparing for a full-scale invasion after its military sent tanks into Rafah and conducted targeted airstrikes in the eastern part of the city on Tuesday to establish control over the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt.
“Many of my colleagues are going to express concern and horror at the crimes against humanity that are about to unfold, even though they just voted to send [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu billions more in weapons,” Tlaib said in a lengthy statement. “Do not be misled, they gave their consent for these atrocities, and our country is actively participating in genocide. For months, Netanyahu made his intent to invade Rafah clear, yet the majority of my colleagues and President Biden sent more weapons to enable the massacre.”
The assault on Rafah came despite Biden warning Israel to avoid a full-scale invasion. The assault on the city threatened to deepen the divide between Biden and Netanhyahu over a potential ceasefire and a strategy to free the hostages held by Hamas.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, has been a fierce critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Since the war began, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,500 people.
Despite the disproportionate scale of violence by Israel, Congress and Biden signed off on more than $14 million to the country. More Democrats are now signaling that they won’t support additional money to Israel unless there are conditions, such as preventing civilian deaths in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Tlaib said, the conditions in Gaza are so dire that it has become a “genocide of Palestinians.”
“There is nowhere safe in Gaza,” Tlaib said. “Nearly 80% of the civilian infrastructure has been destroyed. There is no feasible evacuation plan, and the Israeli government is only trying to provide a false pretense of safety to try to maintain legal cover at the International Court of Justice.”
The Detroit Democrat said the funding must stop.
“It is now more apparent than ever that we must end all U.S. military funding for the Israeli apartheid regime, and demand that President Biden facilitate an immediate, permanent ceasefire that includes a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians,” Tlaib said.
Tlaib also called on the International Court of Justice to “issue arrest warrants Netanhayu and senior Israeli officials to finally hold them accountable for this genocide, as is obviously warranted by these well-documented violations of the Genocide Convention under international law.”
