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Days Before Approving Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, State Department Agreed to Contentious Bomb Sale to Israel
TODAY, the Biden administration committed more than $5 million to rebuilding Gaza after Israeli bombing left swathes of the territory in ruins, with medical facilities, homes, and roads destroyed or damaged by the aerial attack that killed at least 248 people this month.
But even as the administration takes steps to aid Gaza, its State Department has approved a $735-million sale of bombs to Israel, bypassing congressional opposition. On May 21st, according to a congressional staffer, the department granted Boeing an export license for the sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Small Diameter Bombs two kinds of laser-guided munitions that were reportedly used by Israel in the 11-day attack on the Gaza Strip that ended on Friday with a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Breaking News: Progressive Legislators to Introduce Resolution Blocking Bomb Sale to Israel
AMIDST ISRAEL’S DEVASTATING ASSAULT ON GAZA, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan, and Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib are preparing to introduce a resolution that would block the United States’ planned $735 million sale of bombs to Israel, according to an early draft of the legislation obtained by
Jewish Currents.
The resolution would halt the planned transfer of so-called JDAMs, or Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and of Small Diameter Bombs, both of which are bombs outfitted with special guidance systems to hit their intended targets. Both types of explosive are made by the Chicago-based weapons manufacturer Boeing. Israel has used JDAMs and Small Diameter Bombs in its current attack on Gaza, according to
With time running out to act, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday introduced a resolution aimed at blocking the Biden administration s proposed sale of $735 million in advanced weaponry to the Israeli government as it continues its deadly assault on the occupied Gaza Strip.
The new resolution (pdf) which Ocasio-Cortez introduced alongside Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) came just ahead of the May 20 deadline for congressional action on a weapons deal that would send Boeing-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Small Diameter Bombs to the government of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For decades, the U.S. has sold billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel without ever requiring them to respect basic Palestinian rights, Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. In so doing, we have directly contributed to the death, displacement, and disenfranchisement of millions.