Sanders Floor Speech on Mass Atrocity in Gaza and What Congress Must Do To Address This Crisis

Floor Speech

M. President,

Let me begin by wishing all Americans and my colleagues a very happy and peaceful holiday season.

Unfortunately, for the people in Israel and Palestine, that will not be the case. In Gaza, millions of people will end the year under constant bombardment, exposed to the winter or living in tents, wondering where they will find their next meal, or clean drinking water, or the medical supplies they need.

This is an unmitigated humanitarian disaster, and we must not look away from it.

We all know the current war was begun by Hamas' brutal terrorist attack against Israel, which killed some 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, and took more than 240 hostages. Hamas is a corrupt terrorist organization which, before and after their attack on October 7th has made it clear that their goal is to destroy the state of Israel. There is no question in my mind that Israel has the right to defend itself and respond against the perpetrators of the October 7th attack.

But while it is clear that Israel has the absolute right to respond militarily against a brutal terrorist attack, it is also clear that the Netanyahu's right-wing, extremist government is waging that war in a deeply reckless and immoral way. A just cause for war does not excuse atrocities in the conduct of that war.

Israel has the right to go to war against Hamas. It does not have the right to go to war against innocent men, women, and children in Gaza. Israel's reliance on widespread and indiscriminate bombardment, including with massive explosive ordinance in densely populated urban areas, is unconscionable.

Israel's military campaign will be remembered among some of the darkest chapters of our modern history. Consider the toll thus far.

As of today, nearly 20,000 people have been killed--seventy percent of whom are women and children--and more than 52,000 wounded since October 7th. More are likely trapped under the rubble. 135 UN workers have been killed, as well as dozens of other aid workers.

M. President, unbelievably, nearly 1.9 million people, more than 85 percent of the population, have been driven from their homes across Gaza. Despite sharing their locations with Israeli forces, more than 100 UN facilities have been hit in the bombardment. The UN reports that over 60 percent of the housing units in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

To put this in historical perspective, this means the destruction in Gaza is now equivalent to that of Dresden, where two years of bombing during World War II destroyed half of the homes in that city and killed about 25,000 people. Gaza has matched this in two months.

This massive bombardment has made it impossible for the UN and other aid groups to provide basic necessities to the people of Gaza. As we speak, some 1.4 million people are sheltering in 155 overcrowded UN facilities. There is little electricity, food, water, medicine, or fuel -- and hundreds of thousands of children are going hungry. The shortage of clean water and adequate sanitation facilities is leading to disease. And that is not to mention the lasting psychological damage being done. The UN's senior humanitarian official said that he fears a "breakdown in society" amid this desperation.

This is not just a humanitarian cataclysm, but a mass atrocity.

And it is being done with bombs and equipment provided by the United States and heavily subsidized by American taxpayers. Tragically, we are complicit in this carnage.

The Israeli military has made extensive use of massive explosive munitions in its campaign, including 2,000-pound and 1,000-pound bombs, and 155mm artillery. These bombs and shells are manufactured here in America and supplied to Israel by the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. has provided at least 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells to Israel since October 7th, including more than 5,400 of the huge 2,000-pound bombs that can flatten entire neighborhoods.

The Washington Post reports that, in just six weeks after October 7th, Israel dropped more than 22,000 American-supplied bombs on Gaza. And CNN reports that U.S. intelligence believes 40 to 45 percent of the bombs Israel has used in Gaza have been unguided "dumb bombs."

These munitions were provided with the full knowledge they would likely be used in Gaza, a densely populated urban area with a large civilian presence. Parts of Gaza are more densely populated than New York City.

The press, human rights monitors, and U.S. officials have confirmed that U.S.-provided bombs have been used in attacks that have killed thousands of civilians.

M. President, this campaign very likely violates U.S. law and policy. That is why I have introduced a privileged resolution under Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act.

The resolution requests that the State Department provide information on any credible allegations of human rights violations in Gaza caused by indiscriminate or disproportionate military operations and the blanket denial of humanitarian access. It also requests a list of the arms provided to Israel since October 7th and a description of the steps taken to limit civilian risk caused by Israeli military actions.

We will be voting on this resolution in January, and the basic question we will be answering is: do we support asking the State Department whether human rights violations may have been committed in the Israeli campaign in Gaza?

I hope that is a simple yes vote for most of my colleagues. This should not be a controversial question. If you believe, as I do, that this campaign has been indiscriminate, then it is our responsibility to ask this question. If you believe Israel has done nothing wrong in Gaza, then you should want this information to support that belief.

When we receive this information, we will then have a privileged vehicle to debate any necessary changes in U.S. security assistance to Israel.

M. President, while I look forward to this debate, let me also mention that I have a clear view on this issue.

The United States government has urged Israel to change its tactics with regard to their indiscriminate bombing. We have asked and asked and asked. Unfortunately, the Netanyahu government has not listened or been terribly interested in our perspective.

Instead they have continued their current military approach which is immoral and is in violation of international law.

In my view, the United States must end our complicity in those actions. To do so, we must make two critical changes in policy:

First, while it is appropriate to support defensive systems like Iron Dome to protect Israeli civilians against incoming rockets, it would be irresponsible to provide an additional $10.1 billion in military aid beyond these defensive systems as contained in the proposed supplemental foreign aid package. We should not provide this money to allow Netanyahu to continue the indiscriminate bombardment.

Second, the U.S. should support efforts at the UN Security Council to end the bloodshed, such as a resolution expected tomorrow that would demand an "urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities," as well the unconditional release of all hostages. This should be something we strongly support.

M. President, as we soon head home to our families, let us not forget the millions of people in desperate need, both here in the United States, and around the world. In Gaza, there is a horrific situation we can and must do more to address -- a situation that U.S. arms and policy have helped create. It's time we act.

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