Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) told reporters he has “faith” in what President Biden is doing to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza, including the decision to halt the delivery of 3,500 bombs while his government is evaluating a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah.
“I believe Israel and America have an ironclad relationship and I have faith in what the Biden administration is doing,” Schumer said when asked whether it is appropriate for the Biden administration to hold back on bomb shipments amid intensifying opposition on the left. for the war.
Republicans are criticizing Biden for withholding the munitions, which they argue were authorized and paid for in the $95 billion emergency foreign aid package that Congress approved last month.
“A few days ago, we saw reports that the president was delaying arms shipments to Israel, creating light between America and a close ally,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said on the Senate floor at Wednesday.
“The decision to suspend these shipments was hidden from Congress – we still don’t know the important facts,” he said.
“The president’s apparent inability to keep the most radical voices on his left flank out of the Situation Room is not just a shameful abdication of leadership – it is dangerous,” McConnell added.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that Israel needs to present plans to protect civilians in Rafah.
Israeli troops seized the Gaza border crossing at Rafah on Tuesday in anticipation of a possible invasion.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last month that a ground invasion of Rafah would be “a mistake.”
Progressives are applauding Biden’s decision to delay gun shipments.
“Given the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that [Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war has created in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of children face starvation, President Biden is absolutely right to stop supplying bombs to this far-right Israeli government,” said Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a statement. .
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
