Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders said he and several colleagues have introduced a resolution to block the sale of more than $20 billion worth of offensive weapons to Israel.
Senator Sanders said in a statement published on Wednesday that the Senate will vote on the draft resolution when it resumes its sessions next November.
“Sending more weapons to Netanyahu’s extremist government is immoral and illegal,” he said, stressing that “American weapons are responsible for a huge number of civilian deaths in Gaza.”
“We must end our complicity in these atrocities,” Sanders added.
The US senator accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war to stay in power and avoid prosecution on corruption charges.
He said Netanyahu makes new demands every time a ceasefire agreement appears imminent.
He also noted that Netanyahu’s government had overseen a record wave of illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, and accused it of unleashing a wave of violence in the West Bank that has killed hundreds.
For about a year, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip with broad support from the United States, which has established an air and sea bridge to supply it with thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition.
The war, which international experts describe as genocide, resulted in the deaths of more than 41,000 Palestinians, the injury of 96,000, and the destruction of nearly 70% of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including homes, schools, and hospitals.