Frustrated Dems Urge Biden Admin to Rein in Israel as Gaza Deadline Passes

Nearly 80 members of Congress sent a letter Thursday calling on the Biden administration to review Israel's compliance with United States laws governing foreign military assistance after Israel missed a U.S. deadline to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

The Biden administration should provide a "full assessment" of Israel's compliance with U.S. foreign assistance and national security laws after Israel failed to meet a deadline last month to improve conditions on the ground in Gaza, 77 Democrats in Congress wrote in the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Israel has imposed "arbitrary restrictions on humanitarian aid and insufficient delivery routes" into Gaza, the lawmakers wrote. "As a result, Gaza's civilian population is facing dire famine."

The lawmakers stopped short of calling on the White House to withhold military aid from Israel, likely frustrating critics who've urged for the U.S. to stop arming Israel in its 14-month war with the militant group Hamas in Gaza.

But the request for a review of Israel's compliance with National Security Memorandum 20 and sections of the Foreign Assistance Act would be a first step that could lead to the U.S. withholding some offensive weapons systems.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.

The mounting pressure from Democrats is a sign of growing frustration after Israel missed the Biden administration's deadline to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and meet assurances the Israeli government made in March that it wouldn't block U.S. aid to the coastal strip.

The U.S. imposed the 30-day deadline in mid-October. When the deadline expired last month, American officials said the U.S. would not restrict military aid to Israel, arguing that Israel had made some progress in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In their letter Thursday, Democrats argued that Israel hasn't done enough.

"That deadline has expired, and while some progress has been made, we believe the Israeli government has not yet fulfilled the requirements outlined" by the Biden administration this fall, the lawmakers wrote.

Outside groups also urged the Biden administration to take action.

"The administration should heed the call of its party members, its voters and the Jewish American community, which overwhelmingly support getting more aid into Gaza and easing the hellish conditions families continue to endure," said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the advocacy group J-Street.

More than 44,000 people have died in the war in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the conflict in Gaza and led to fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Biden administration, for its part, helped broker a ceasefire this month between Israel and Hezbollah. A ceasefire in Gaza has thus far proved elusive, but U.S. officials have expressed hope in recent days that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria could push Hamas back to the negotiating table.