Sen. Bernie Sanders Calls On Biden To Condition Aid To Israel

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) asked that President Joe Biden deny Israel any further funding unless it agrees to send more humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“We are looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands of children starving to death. The United States cannot be complicit in this mass slaughter of children,” Sanders said on Face The Nation.

In his interview, he said that the United States can no longer go on funding Israel’s invasion, which has cost more than 31,000 lives and displaced over one million Palestinians.

Though thousands of lives in Gaza have been lost because of bombings, Gazan officials estimate that 20 people have died of malnutrition due to a lack of resources and expect the situation will worsen in the coming days.

“The truth is, whether you’re a conservative Republican or a progressive, you do not want to see children in Palestine starve to death,” Sanders said, calling on those of all political views to find common ground on the issue.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, plans to continue his push further into Gaza with his sights set on the city of Rafah, the last remaining city not under Israeli control.

Many displaced Palestinians have fled to Rafa seeking refuge from Israel’s onslaught.

The United States has advised Israel not to proceed with the attacks.

Sanders specifically demanded that the U.S. should withdraw support from Israel if it invades Rafah.

“We cannot support an attack of that kind on Rafah,” he said. “Netanyahu has got to be told no more money for his war machine unless there is humanitarian aid coming in to feed the people.”

Biden has agreed that Israel’s drive into Rafah should not proceed but also insisted that he won’t withdraw funding.

“I’m never going to leave Israel,” Biden said last week.

Despite U.S. warnings against attacking Rafah, Netanyahu feels that this offensive is necessary to ensure that Israel never experiences an attack like the one carried out by Hamas on October 7, in which more than 1,000 people were killed and 129 hostages were taken.