Nancy Pelosi, former United States’ House of Representatives Speaker and key ally of President Joe Biden, has asked the President to stop transferring US weapons to Israel for its war against Palestine’s Islamist group, Hamas.
Reuters reports that Pelosi signed a letter on Friday from dozens of congressional Democrats to President Biden and Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, urging a stop to weapons transfers to Israel.
It was reported that the call was sequel to the fact that Israel’s military assault on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel where about 1,200 people were killed, has come under increasing international criticism as the Gaza health ministry has reported that more than 33,000 people have been killed in the war and the narrow coastal enclave suffers widespread famine.
Support from Pelosi, who is a strong member of Biden’s Democratic Party, for stopping the transfer of weapons to Israel is said to be an indication that the view is increasingly becoming mainstream in the party.
Friday’s letter reportedly called on President Biden’s administration to conduct its own probe into an Israeli airstrike that killed seven staff of the aid group, World Central Kitchen on Monday.
The letter was quoted as stating that “In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers.”
The letter was signed by Pelosi and 36 other Democrats including Representatives Barbara Lee, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On Friday, the Israeli military said that it dismissed two officers and formally reprimanded senior commanders after an inquiry into the aid workers’ deaths found serious errors and breaches of procedure.
President Biden on Thursday held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he said Israel needed to do more to protect civilians or the U.S. would change its policy.