The senator’s announcement marks the second time that he will seek to halt arms sales to Israel using a resolution of disapproval.
US Senator Bernie Sanders announced on Thursday that he would force votes next week on two resolutions that would block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel in support of its genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip.
“These sales, proposed by the Trump Administration, would provide $8.8 billion in bombs and other munitions to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s extremist government to continue its destruction of Gaza,” Sanders said in a statement.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 27, 2025
“Netanyahu has clearly violated US and international law in this brutal war, and we must end our complicity in the carnage,” he added.
‘Morally Abhorrent’ Blockade
The senator emphasized that no humanitarian aid has entered Gaza in more than three and a half weeks, since Israeli authorities announced a complete blockade at the start of March.
“Blocking humanitarian aid is morally abhorrent and a clear violation of both the Geneva Convention and the Foreign Assistance Act,” Sanders said.
Netanyahu’s illegal war has killed 50,000 Palestinians. Now, Trump wants to force out 2 million more to build a billionaire’s playground in Gaza.
That is ethnic cleansing — and it’s a war crime.
Next week, I will force votes to block $8.8 billion in new arms sales to Israel. pic.twitter.com/IVGjBCIibl
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 27, 2025
The senator’s announcement marks the second time that he will seek to halt arms sales to Israel using a resolution of disapproval, the Anadolu news agency reported. The first effort in November was met with defeat, though it saw a significant number of Democrats – about 40% of the caucus – vote in opposition.
“This war has been conducted almost entirely with American weapons and some $18 billion in US taxpayer dollars,” Sanders stressed.
‘Particularly Unconscionable’
He said Israel “has dropped US-provided 2,000-pound bombs into crowded neighborhoods, killing hundreds of civilians to take out a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants,” adding “These actions are immoral and illegal.”
Sanders pointed out that the latest Trump sales provide almost $8.8 billion more in US bombs and other munitions, including more than 35,000 massive 2,000-pound bombs.
He said the US “must not continue to supply endless amounts of military aid and weaponry” to the Netanyahu government.
“It is particularly unconscionable while President Trump and Israeli officials openly talk of forcibly displacing millions of people from Gaza to make way for what Trump calls a ‘Riviera,’” Sanders said.
He added: “There is a name for such a policy — ethnic cleansing — and it’s a war crime.”
‘Ethnic Cleansing, War Crime’
The arms that Sanders’s latest action will attempt to block include 35,000 2,000-pound bombs, Anadolu reported. These are weapons that Israel has used to level wide swathes of Gaza in attacks widely decried by the international community as indiscriminate.
Sanders previously accused Netanyahu’s government of waging a “total war” but has also defended Israel’s right to respond to Hamas’ attack of October 2023.
He has also faced backlash for refraining from using the term “genocide” to refer to Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.
In his statement on Thursday, he reiterated that “Hamas started this war with its brutal terrorist attack on October 7, 2023,” adding that “Israel had a right to respond against Hamas.”
“But Netanyahu’s extremist government has instead waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people,” Sanders continued.
Rising Death Toll
The renewed Israeli violence on March 18 has broken a ceasefire that began on January 19. The latest military actions have killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured many more, primarily civilians, including women and children.
While numerous countries and human rights groups have condemned the violations, the US has continued its support for Israel, asserting that the military campaign was carried out with prior knowledge and approval from Washington.
Gaza Civil Defense teams have found the body of a colleague in Rafah’s Sultan neighborhood, while five others remain missing. There are indications that Israeli forces directly targeted their teams in the area. #Gaza #Rafah #Palestine pic.twitter.com/Qy2NkgSqP3
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 28, 2025
Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left Gaza in ruins.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the enclave.
(PC, Anadolu)
Good, great. But it’s just more empty words. This has been going on for quite some time. And if you go back through some of the archived articles here on Palestine Chronicle, or Electronic Intifada you see the same people saying these same empty words ten years ago. Ten years from now they’ll be saying the same thing. The fact is, unfortunately, my US government is part of the genocide in Gaza and all around the world. Until we dismantle the Zionist influence there will be no peace and the wars will continue. Dondolf Twitler was paid to side with ” Israel ” . He put their nation’s interests before his own. That is High Treason. But who will stop it? No one, that’s who. Please prove me wrong.