Progressives press Biden to withhold Israel aid over deadly Rafah strike
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Progressive Democratic lawmakers are calling on President Biden to follow through on his vow to withhold aid to Israel following a military strike in Rafah that killed at least 45 Palestinian civilians.
The Israeli Defense Force conducted a strike Sunday night intended to target a Hamas compound, which led to a fire and dozens of civilian deaths at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret for the deaths of uninvolved civilians, calling the deadly fire “a tragic accident.”
Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. are calling foul and saying Israel’s actions in Rafah violate President Biden’s warning to Israel not to conduct a major assault on Rafah.
“I’ve made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone into Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with the problem,” Mr. Biden said in a CNN interview earlier this month.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat and a member of “the Squad,” said Israel’s Sunday night strike was conducted “in open defiance” of Mr. Biden’s red line as
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