Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed a letter yesterday, Friday, directed to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with dozens of Democratic congress members, urging a stop to arms transfers to Israel. The Israeli military operation in Gaza, in response to the attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, has drawn increasing international criticism, with the Gaza Health Ministry reporting that over 33,000 people have died in the conflict and the coastal strip is facing widespread famine.
Pelosi's support for halting arms transfers to Israel indicates a significant prevailing sentiment within the party. Nancy Pelosi is a key ally of Biden and a veteran member of the Democratic Party to which the U.S. president belongs. The lawmakers in their letter called on the Biden administration to conduct a special inquiry into an Israeli airstrike that resulted in the death of seven staff members from the World Central Kitchen charity on Monday.
The letter stated, “Given the recent strike on relief workers and the worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these arms transfers.” Pelosi and 36 Democratic members signed the letter. For its part, the Israeli military announced yesterday, Friday, that it had dismissed two officers and issued a formal reprimand to senior leaders after an investigation into the killing of the relief workers found serious errors and procedural violations. Biden had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, in which he stated that Israel must make more efforts to protect civilians, or else the United States will change its policy.
