Sen. Bernie Sanders vehemently insisted on Sunday’s “State of the Union” on CNN that the situation that has unfolded in Gaza since Oct. 7 is “a horrific humanitarian catastrophe.” He told Jake Tapper that President Joe Biden’s support for financially backing Israel during the country’s war with Hamas has made it “very hard for young people, I think for most Americans, to be excited about what is going on right now. The president has got to change course.”
“He has been very clear,” Sanders said. “He has expressed his concern about, quote-unquote, ‘indiscriminate bombing.’ He has asked that Netanyahu, over and over again, to change course. Now, just yesterday, he said, ‘No, we’re going to continue doing what we are doing.’ Unacceptable. You cannot give billions of dollars to a country that ignores your wishes, violates international law.
“So I would hope that the president follows through on his concerns and says to Netanyahu, ‘This is unacceptable. You’re not getting a nickel more from the United States unless you radically change course,’” Sanders said.
Earlier in the segment, Sanders said the war in Gaza is worse than the bombing of Dresden, Germany, in 1945. He explained, “Jacob, I use the word ‘Dresden,’ Germany, to you. You think about the horrible destruction during World War II of that city. What is going on in Gaza now, in three months, is worse than what took place in Dresden over a two-year period. This is a catastrophe.”
“And now, according to the United Nations, after you have 1.9 million people displaced from their homes — they don’t have food, they don’t have water, medical equipment, they don’t have fuel — what you’re looking at is imminent starvation,” he continued. “Children are starving to death.”
Sanders went on, “My view from the beginning has been Israel has a right to respond to this horrific terrorist attack from Hamas, but you do not have a right to go to war against an entire people, women and children. And the United States Congress has got to act, because a lot of this destruction is being done with military weapons supplied by the United States of America.”
To that end, Vermont’s senator is taking action. Sanders has introduced the Foreign Assistance Act, which he explained, “says if American military assistance is given to any country — Saudi Arabia, Israel, any other country — it has got to be used consistent with human rights, international human rights standards, and American law.”
“In my opinion,” Sanders continued, “that is certainly not the case. We have a horrific humanitarian catastrophe. We cannot turn our back on it. Congress has got to start moving it to protect children in Palestine.”
However, Sanders is not convinced he can get 51 votes for the act. He explained, “What we’re trying to do is unprecedented. This is the first time this particular resolution has ever been brought to the floor for a vote. This is the first time we’ve ever seen members of the Congress beginning to stand up to Israeli aid. So it’s going to be a long, hard process, but we’ve got to begin somewhere. This is the beginning.”
The death rate in Gaza is certainly catastrophic. On Thursday, Oxfam International reported that the Israeli military is killing an average of 250 Palestinians per day, a daily death rate that is higher than any other 21st century conflict. On Saturday, the United Nations’ ReliefWeb published a press release from the Euro-Med Monitor that reported 31,497 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, and approximately 100,000 Palestinians have been killed, reported missing or wounded since Oct. 7.
Of the deaths, 28,951 were civilians, which included 12,345 children, 6,471 women. That includes 295 health personnel, 41 civil defense personnel and 113 journalists.
When asked how else Israel should have responded to the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, Sanders replied, “Well, Jake, that is a very fair question. And as I’ve said a million times, what Hamas, a disgusting terrorist organization, what they did is unspeakable. And they still are holding over 100 hostages.
“The situation is difficult,” he continued. “It’s a highly dense, densely populated urban area. Fighting there is difficult. No question about it. This is not an easy task to go after Hamas. But you don’t starve hundreds of thousands of children in the process.
“Israel is a very sophisticated military, one of the most sophisticated in the world. It’s not easy, but you don’t destroy an entire people in the process. I think most people would say that’s morally unacceptable,” Sanders concluded.
Watch the interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders in the video above.
