Bernie Sanders proposes resolution on Israel’s ‘destruction’ of Gaza. What does it do?

Sen. Bernie Sanders condemned the “widespread civilian harm” in Gaza and advanced a resolution that would require the U.S. government to investigate Israel’s military tactics.

“This is not just another war — this is wholesale destruction,” the Vermont senator and one-time White House hopeful said in a Senate floor speech on Jan. 10.

Sanders, 82, pushed forward a resolution that would require the State Department to provide a report on potential human rights abuses committed by the Israeli military, which is supplied with arms by the U.S. government.

What does the resolution do?

The resolution invokes Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act, a Cold War-era law that outlines governing principles for U.S. foreign aid.

Section 502B permits Congress to vote to solicit information on the human rights record of any country that the U.S. provides with security assistance.

If requested by either the Senate or the House, the Secretary of State is compelled to provide “a detailed description” of the country’s human rights practices within 30 days.

Sanders, who introduced the resolution in December, said he would bring it to a floor vote next week.

“In essence, we will be voting on a very simple question: Do you support asking the State Department whether human rights violations may have occurred using U.S. equipment or assistance in this war?” Sanders said.

Upon the publication of the State Department’s report, Congress will be able to vote on whether to terminate further military assistance to Israel.

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‘Congress must act’

Sanders, an independent, said the resolution is necessary because Israel — using weapons supplied by the U.S. government — has employed military tactics that have led to widespread death, destruction and starvation in Gaza.

Using thousands of bombs provided by the U.S., the Israeli military has targeted densely populated neighborhoods in Gaza, a small seaside Palestinian territory, Sanders said.

“There is extensive evidence showing that it has been, far and away, the most intensive bombing campaign of the 21st century,” he said. “Up to now, some 23,000 Palestinians have been killed, seventy percent of whom are women and children.”

More than three-quarters of Gaza’s 1.9 million residents have been displaced by the bombing campaign, 1.4 million of whom have sought refuge in U.N. facilities, many of which have also been hit by airstrikes, he said.

Further, Sanders said, more than nine in 10 Gazans now face “acute food insecurity,” and the territory’s health care system has broken down, citing U.N. statistics.

“Given all of this, the scale of the destruction, and the extensive use of U.S. arms in this campaign, including thousands of massive 2,000-pound bombs, Congress must act to conduct real oversight,” he said. “We are deeply complicit in what is going on.”

Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, receiving billions worth of military equipment, including guns, helicopters and missile defense systems, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sanders stipulated that Israel, a country he said he has long supported, has a right to wage war against Hamas, following its Oct. 7 attack.

However, he said, Israel “does not have the right to go to war against the Palestinian people and innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.”

“We aren’t likely to all agree on Israel-Palestine anytime soon,” Sanders concluded. “But asking for more information on how U.S. arms and security assistance are being used — particularly amid this level of death and destruction — should not be controversial. In fact, it’s our job.”

The floor vote on the resolution would prompt the first investigation into Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

“I am not aware of any kind of formal assessment being done by the United States government to analyze the compliance with international law by — by our partner Israel,” Biden Administration Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Jan. 4.

When it was introduced, the resolution sparked a response from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the largest pro-Israel lobbying groups.

In urging lawmakers to vote against the resolution, AIPAC said in a statement, “Congress must continue to stand by Israel in its fight against Hamas and give Israel the time and space to defend its citizens.”

In October, the Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution that affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself.

“America’s policy should be absolutely unequivocal: to ensure Israel has the military and diplomatic support to utterly eradicate Hamas, for as long as it takes,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said in an October statement.

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