Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) have introduced legislation to block nearly $4 billion in proposed weapons sales to Israel, after Israel has unilaterally ended the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and embarked on what appears to be the most violent phase of its genocide yet.
On Sunday, Jayapal’s office announced the introduction of four Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD), or legislation that can block weapons transfers to foreign governments if passed by Congress. The four resolutions announced on Sunday would block the sale of over 35,000 2,000-pound bombs; 5,000 1,000-pound bombs; JDAMs; and Caterpillar bulldozers used by the Israeli military for demolitions, often to help carry out Israel’s illegal settlement building projects.
“Continuing to provide the Israeli government with offensive weapons, even as they violate both international and U.S. laws, is unacceptable and makes us complicit in this violence and destruction,” said Jayapal in a statement. “We must return to a negotiated ceasefire that allows for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, the release of the remaining hostages, and lasting security in the region.”
Tlaib and Jayapal have already introduced four other JRDs to block over $8 billion in weapons transfers proposed by the Trump administration, including $6.75 billion worth of bombs and bomb kits, as well as other weapons like Hellfire missiles and artillery shells.
“With Netanyahu violating the ceasefire in Gaza and resuming the genocidal bombing campaign, we need to save lives and stop the killing,” Tlaib said.
The lawmakers say that the administration’s proposed sale is not just concerning because of the human rights implications, but because officials bypassed the congressional foreign affairs committees in carrying out the sale — indicating the administration’s eagerness to fast track the sales while it’s also pushing Donald Trump’s plan for the wholesale ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
The resolution to block the first sale listed by the lawmakers, of 2,000-pound bombs, has the support of 14 other House Democrats: Representatives Greg Casar (Texas), Joaquin Castro (Texas), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (Illinois), Al Green (Texas), Summer Lee (Pennsylvania), James P. McGovern (Massachusetts), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Chellie Pingree (Maine), Mark Pocan (Wisconsin), Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), Delia C. Ramirez (Illinois), Nydia M. Velázquez (New York), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (New Jersey).
The other three sales, for JDAMs, 1,000-pound bombs and bulldozers, have 12 cosponsors, with all of the above but Castro and McGovern in support. The resolutions are supported by numerous progressive, human rights and religious groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace Action.
The resolutions are the House companions to Joint Resolutions of Disapproval that are set to be introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Sanders has announced that he is planning to force a vote on the resolutions this week.
The sales are “particularly unconscionable while President Trump and Israeli officials openly talk of forcibly displacing millions of people from Gaza to make way for what Trump calls a ‘Riviera,’” Sanders said. “There is a name for such a policy — ethnic cleansing — and it’s a war crime.”
Jayapal and Tlaib’s introduction of the legislation comes after Israel has resumed its carpet bombing campaign in Gaza while imposing a total aid blockade on the region, killing Palestinians both by force and by starvation, disease and deprivation. The latest campaign has pushed the official death toll of the genocide to over 50,000 people, including over 17,000 children — though experts say that the true death toll is far, far higher.
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