The armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas enters its 11th day. Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel, and Israel has responded with a steady stream of air strikes. Days of clashes have resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths, mostly among Palestinians.
Meanwhile, senior U.S. officials have been speaking with Israeli officials for days, saying the United States supports the cease-fire and making clear that Israel, as a democratic state, bears greater responsibility for avoiding civilian casualties.
The Biden administration continued to assert Israel’s right to defend itself in press releases following the officials’ calls, but few details of those talks were disclosed. Many Republicans speculate that the Democrat-led U.S. administration is stepping up pressure on the Netanyahu government to immediately halt Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. They even fear that the Biden administration may use a suspension of military aid to force Israel to stop its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Israel has traditionally relied on the United States for military aid. The Iron Dome missile defense system (Iron Dome), which has been extremely effective in shooting down Hamas rockets in this conflict, was deployed with U.S. assistance.
In an open letter to President Biden on Wednesday (May 19, 2021), Rep. McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, representing 100 Republican members of Congress, urged the president to continue to provide security support to Israel without additional conditions. The open letter said the Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted terrorist rockets and saved countless civilian lives, and that in previous instances of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the U.S. Congress and the administration have acted quickly to resupply Israel so that this effective defense operation could continue.
On the same day, more than a dozen Republican senators also issued a joint statement urging the Biden administration to make clear that the United States will replenish Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system with ammunition to continue intercepting terrorists’ rockets.
Meanwhile, nearly 140 Democratic House members issued an open letter to President Biden, praising the president’s diplomatic efforts behind the scenes with Netanyahu’s call. But in the letter, they said “first a cease-fire is needed” and urged the Biden administration to take a bold lead and take decisive action to stop the violence.
Some Democrats say the U.S. should suspend replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system with ammunition to force an immediate cease-fire.
Netanyahu said Wednesday after speaking with Biden that he was “determined to continue this operation until the objective is achieved.
Netanyahu said a day earlier that Israel had dealt Hamas a “surprise blow” that had set the militant group “back many years. He said Israel’s retaliation was a lesson to Israel’s enemies.
Hamas began firing rockets at Israel on May 10.
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