Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said military aid to Israel should continue, per the conduct of war report released by the State Department on Friday “raised concerns”.
Cardin’s comments on transferring military aid to Israel are different from those of the White House, as President Biden withheld sending some bombs to the US ally last week and said earlier this week that the US would stop supplying weapons as artillery shells and bombs if Israel Defense Forces (IDF) advance with a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, the city in the southern Gaza Strip where more than a million people are sheltering.
Despite having a different position on arms transfers, the Maryland senator acknowledged the “concerns” of the conduct of war report released on Friday, which considered it “reasonable to assess” that Israel, in its war operation in Gaza , violated international humanitarian law.
The assessment did not definitively conclude that the country broke the laws contained in the report, with US authorities recognizing that it was “difficult to assess or reach conclusive conclusions about individual incidents”.
“While the most recent report on Israel under NSM-20 has raised concerns, I agree with your assessment that Israel has not violated international humanitarian law and that military assistance to support Israel’s security continues to be in the interests of the U.S. and must continue,” Cardin said. on a declaration following the release of the report on Friday.
“In this regard, I disagree with President Biden’s recent decision,” he said.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said that Israel, which is currently ordering new evacuations in Rafah and is expanding its operation in the area, should not carry out the large-scale incursion into the city in southern Gaza without having a plan to evacuate. civilians safely. .
“Going to Rafah without a credible plan to deal with the humanitarian situation is not the right path,” Cardin said. “Any operation must take all measures to protect civilian lives. There must be safe passage for innocent civilians currently displaced within Rafah.
He stressed that aid to Gazans needs to flow without delay, as the population is already facing a humanitarian crisis.
“They need food, water, shelter, medical care and all other necessary humanitarian provisions,” he said. “It is in the interests of Israel and the US that there is effective and sustained humanitarian assistance available to those at risk in Gaza, and it needs to be provided without delay or interruption.”
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