(This April 5 story corrected to say Gaza suffers widespread hunger, not famine, in paragraph 2 and adds context to UN warnings of an impending famine in Gaza in paragraph 11)
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, a former House speaker and key ally of Joe Biden, signed a letter from dozens of congressional Democrats to the President and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday urging a halt to arms transfers to Israel .
BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT
The Israeli military assault on Gaza, which followed the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, has come under growing international criticism as Gaza’s health ministry reported that more than 33,000 people are death in the war and the narrow coastal enclave suffers widespread hunger.
The support of Pelosi, a veteran member of Biden’s Democratic Party, to stop weapons transfers to Israel showed that opinion is becoming increasingly mainstream in the party.
KEY QUOTE
Friday’s letter called on the Biden administration to conduct its own investigation into the Israeli airstrike that killed seven workers at the aid group World Central Kitchen on Monday.
“In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the worsening humanitarian crisis, we find it unjustifiable to approve these arms transfers,” the letter reads. It was signed by Pelosi and 36 other Democrats including Representatives Barbara Lee, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
CONTEXT
The Israeli army said Friday it had fired two officers and formally reprimanded senior commanders after an investigation into the deaths of aid workers found serious errors and violations of procedures. Biden had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday in which he said Israel must do more to protect civilians or the United States will change its policy.
By Israeli counts, the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 killed 1,200 people. Israel’s subsequent military attack on Hamas-ruled Gaza displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million inhabitants and led to accusations of genocide that Israel denies.
The United Nations has warned of looming famine in Gaza. Famine is assessed using the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an initiative of UN agencies, regional bodies and humanitarian groups. On March 18, the IPC wrote in a report that famine is imminent and will likely occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread throughout the enclave by July.