WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – Some U.S. legislators are questioning whether a $735m approved weapons sales to the Zionist regime by President Joe Biden’s administration could be used as leverage amid the continuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the Washington Post has reported.
The arms sales include Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are used to turn bombs into precision-guided missiles, according to the newspaper.
Some legislators and aides said the sale could prompt a groundswell of opposition in Congress, where criticism of the Biden administration’s support of the occupying regime amid the deadly confrontation has become more prevalent.
“Allowing this proposed sale of smart bombs to go through without putting pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire will only enable further carnage,” a legislator on the House Foreign Affairs Committee told the newspaper.
Under U.S. law, the administration is required to notify Congress of such sales. Legislators then have 20 days to pass a resolution opposing the sales.
The controversial sale has caught some U.S. lawmakers off guard. One of them, quoted in the Washington Post story, says there is “zero transparency” on the House Foreign Affairs Committee with “sensitive deals” being “regularly approved without scrutiny”.
The deal is likely to lead to further divisions in the Democratic Party ranks as some lawmakers are mounting pressure on the Biden administration to take action in the face of the regime’s relentless aggression on Palestinians.
“This is happening with the support of the United States,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Saturday in reference to the Zionist regime’s airstrikes. “The U.S. vetoed the UN call for ceasefire. If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said the Zionist reigme is bombing international media so the world cannot see its war crimes against the people of Palestine, in reaction to an airstrike on a building housing media offices in Gaza.
The U.S. aid comes at a time when Palestine has been reeling under an unprecedented military aggression from the occupying regime, with the resistance front retaliating forcefully, exposing cracks in the regime’s ‘defense’ infrastructure.
The Biden administration has continually stressed the Zionist regime’s right to ‘self-defense’ amid the violence, while repeatedly vetoing a United Nations Security Council joint statement that would condemn the Zionist regime’s actions and call for a ceasefire.
The stance has garnered criticism from some in the Democratic Party who charge that Biden is overlooking the occupying regime’s abuses in favor of the longstanding alliance.
Beyond arms sales, the U.S. provides about $3.8bn in annual aid to the regime.