Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday doubled down on his opposition to more U.S. aid to Israel, suggesting that Americans do not want to be “complicit” in the starvation of children in Gaza.
“Well, I understand… look, every Republican, as I understand it, wants to give enormous amounts of money to Israel,” Sanders said during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” My guess is that many Republicans want Israel to go to Rafah, despite the incredible humanitarian destruction it will cause, and there are Democrats who think so too.”
“But that’s what I’m going to tell you, Kristen. That’s not what the American people feel. Poll after poll suggests that the American people want an immediate ceasefire. They want massive humanitarian aid coming in,” he continued. “The people of our country do not want to be complicit in the hunger of hundreds of thousands of children.”
Sanders, an independent who supports Democrats, has repeatedly called for the suspension of US aid in the face of the civilian death toll and depleted humanitarian resources. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7.
Polls have varied in their indications of Americans’ feelings toward the war. In a poll last month, nearly a third of Americans said Israel had gone too far in Gaza, while another poll released in recent weeks revealed that an overwhelming majority of Americans support Israel in its war against Hamas.
Around 1,200 people were killed in Israel on October 7, while around 250 others were taken hostage by Hamas and taken to Gaza.
The war between Israel and Hamas has been ongoing for more than seven months and has caused a serious depletion of food, water, medicine and other resources amid the violence. World Food Program (WFP) director Cindy McCain said earlier this month that there is a “total famine” in northern Gaza.
According to a WFP report released in March, around 1.1 million in Gaza are completely exhausted their food supplies and face catastrophic hunger and starvation.
Congress last month approved a massive foreign aid package that included $26 billion for Israel and global humanitarian aid, including for Gaza. Sanders voted against the package, pointing to “8.9 billion in unrestricted military aid” to allow Israel to wage an “unprecedented attack on the Palestinian people.”
“But the reality is, as I think any objective observer knows, Israel has broken international law. It has broken American law. And, in my opinion, Israel should not receive another dime in U.S. military aid,” Sanders said on Sunday .
“Look, the facts are quite clear. Hamas is a terrible, disgusting terrorist organization that started this war. But what Israel has done in the last seven months is not just going to war against Hamas, it’s going to war against the entire population. Palestinian people,” he continued.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
