In response to media reports that the U.S. administration plans to move forward with a large weapons transfer to the government of Israel, after announcing a pause in a different shipment last week, Paul O’Brien Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, made the following statement:
“One day President Biden expresses concerns about the actions of Israeli forces in Rafah, the next day he plans to send them weapons. This is at best mixed messages, or worse, total complicity. He knows that Rafah will be an unmitigated—and unlawful— disaster of human suffering and death that he and the U.S. government is enabling with U.S. taxpayer dollars.
“After announcing a vague red line last week, warning a weapons suspension should Israeli forces invade Rafah, the Biden administration released a report acknowledging that it is ‘reasonable to assess’ that Israeli security forces have used U.S. weapons to violate international humanitarian law or best practices for reducing harm to civilians. As Israeli forces have continued their advance on Rafah, his administration informed Congress it intends to transfer another billion dollars’ worth of weapons.
“President Biden is blowing past international laws and norms and is now blowing up his own redlines. Meanwhile, thousands of civilian lives are on the line every single day. Enough is enough. He must urgently suspend all transfers of weapons to the government of Israel and push for a permanent ceasefire.”
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