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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media in Tel Aviv on October 12, 2023.
"Instead of funding more bombs with American taxpayer dollars, our leaders should be calling for a cease-fire now," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Claiming they have no practical leverage to influence the Israeli government, Biden administration officials have dismissed calls to place conditions on U.S. aid or cut it off entirely as Israel continues to carry out mass atrocities in the Gaza Strip, including recent attacks on the enclave's largest refugee camp.
The Washington Postreported Sunday that the Biden administration is growing increasingly alarmed by the severity of the death toll from Israel's bombing campaign, which has killed nearly 10,000 people in Gaza in less than a month, displaced more than a million, and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe.
But administration officials say they are "unable to exert significant influence on America's closest ally in the Middle East to change its course," a claim that drew outrage given U.S. plans to deliver more than $14 billion in additional military assistance to Israel on top of the weaponry already provided in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
"Come on," Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), wrote in response to the Post's reporting. "What this means is the [White House] is unwilling to use the enormous leverage it has."
The U.S., Israel's top weapons supplier, provides the nation with nearly $4 billion in military aid each year under a deal inked during the Obama presidency. In the wake of the October 7 attack, the U.S. rushed munitions to Israel and pressed American arms manufacturers to expedite existing weapons orders.
Nearly two weeks into Israel's latest bombing campaign in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden called on Congress to approve over $14 billion in extra, no-strings-attached military assistance for Israel even as the death toll in Gaza climbed rapidly and the administration faced warnings that it could be complicit in genocide.
Israel has also requested 24,000 assault rifles from the U.S., prompting fears that the far-right Israeli government intends to distribute some of the guns to extremist West Bank settlers as they ramp up violence against Palestinians.
On Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. House approved a military aid package that's likely dead on arrival in the Senate due to proposed Internal Revenue Service cuts. The Senate is working on its own aid package for Israel.
"U.S. funding for the Israeli military with no humanitarian conditions will take us farther away from ending the violence and reaching peace," Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who voted against the House package, said in a statement. "Not only do some of my colleagues want to send more weapons to carry out war crimes and violations of international law, but they want to do it by providing tax breaks to billionaires and undermining crucial investments in our communities."
"Instead of funding more bombs with American taxpayer dollars," Tlaib added, "our leaders should be calling for a cease-fire now, before this violence claims thousands more lives."
In recent days, the Biden administration has endorsed "humanitarian pauses" to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip, something Israel has rejected. During a Middle East visit over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed Arab leaders' calls for a cease-fire, insisting it would allow Hamas to "regroup."
The Biden administration has publicly declared that there are no conditions on U.S. aid as it faces an internal revolt and mass protests over its unwavering support for the Israeli government and refusal to support a cease-fire.
The Post reported Sunday that "administration officials and advisers say the levers the United States theoretically has over Israel, such as conditioning military aid on making the military campaign more targeted, are nonstarters, partly because they would be so politically unpopular in any administration and partly because, aides say, Biden himself has a personal attachment to Israel."
Duss noted Sunday that during the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden dismissed as "bizarre" Sanders' proposal to put conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel.
"Time to rethink that," Duss wrote.
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Claiming they have no practical leverage to influence the Israeli government, Biden administration officials have dismissed calls to place conditions on U.S. aid or cut it off entirely as Israel continues to carry out mass atrocities in the Gaza Strip, including recent attacks on the enclave's largest refugee camp.
The Washington Postreported Sunday that the Biden administration is growing increasingly alarmed by the severity of the death toll from Israel's bombing campaign, which has killed nearly 10,000 people in Gaza in less than a month, displaced more than a million, and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe.
But administration officials say they are "unable to exert significant influence on America's closest ally in the Middle East to change its course," a claim that drew outrage given U.S. plans to deliver more than $14 billion in additional military assistance to Israel on top of the weaponry already provided in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
"Come on," Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), wrote in response to the Post's reporting. "What this means is the [White House] is unwilling to use the enormous leverage it has."
The U.S., Israel's top weapons supplier, provides the nation with nearly $4 billion in military aid each year under a deal inked during the Obama presidency. In the wake of the October 7 attack, the U.S. rushed munitions to Israel and pressed American arms manufacturers to expedite existing weapons orders.
Nearly two weeks into Israel's latest bombing campaign in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden called on Congress to approve over $14 billion in extra, no-strings-attached military assistance for Israel even as the death toll in Gaza climbed rapidly and the administration faced warnings that it could be complicit in genocide.
Israel has also requested 24,000 assault rifles from the U.S., prompting fears that the far-right Israeli government intends to distribute some of the guns to extremist West Bank settlers as they ramp up violence against Palestinians.
On Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. House approved a military aid package that's likely dead on arrival in the Senate due to proposed Internal Revenue Service cuts. The Senate is working on its own aid package for Israel.
"U.S. funding for the Israeli military with no humanitarian conditions will take us farther away from ending the violence and reaching peace," Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who voted against the House package, said in a statement. "Not only do some of my colleagues want to send more weapons to carry out war crimes and violations of international law, but they want to do it by providing tax breaks to billionaires and undermining crucial investments in our communities."
"Instead of funding more bombs with American taxpayer dollars," Tlaib added, "our leaders should be calling for a cease-fire now, before this violence claims thousands more lives."
In recent days, the Biden administration has endorsed "humanitarian pauses" to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip, something Israel has rejected. During a Middle East visit over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed Arab leaders' calls for a cease-fire, insisting it would allow Hamas to "regroup."
The Biden administration has publicly declared that there are no conditions on U.S. aid as it faces an internal revolt and mass protests over its unwavering support for the Israeli government and refusal to support a cease-fire.
The Post reported Sunday that "administration officials and advisers say the levers the United States theoretically has over Israel, such as conditioning military aid on making the military campaign more targeted, are nonstarters, partly because they would be so politically unpopular in any administration and partly because, aides say, Biden himself has a personal attachment to Israel."
Duss noted Sunday that during the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden dismissed as "bizarre" Sanders' proposal to put conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel.
"Time to rethink that," Duss wrote.
Claiming they have no practical leverage to influence the Israeli government, Biden administration officials have dismissed calls to place conditions on U.S. aid or cut it off entirely as Israel continues to carry out mass atrocities in the Gaza Strip, including recent attacks on the enclave's largest refugee camp.
The Washington Postreported Sunday that the Biden administration is growing increasingly alarmed by the severity of the death toll from Israel's bombing campaign, which has killed nearly 10,000 people in Gaza in less than a month, displaced more than a million, and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe.
But administration officials say they are "unable to exert significant influence on America's closest ally in the Middle East to change its course," a claim that drew outrage given U.S. plans to deliver more than $14 billion in additional military assistance to Israel on top of the weaponry already provided in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
"Come on," Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), wrote in response to the Post's reporting. "What this means is the [White House] is unwilling to use the enormous leverage it has."
The U.S., Israel's top weapons supplier, provides the nation with nearly $4 billion in military aid each year under a deal inked during the Obama presidency. In the wake of the October 7 attack, the U.S. rushed munitions to Israel and pressed American arms manufacturers to expedite existing weapons orders.
Nearly two weeks into Israel's latest bombing campaign in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden called on Congress to approve over $14 billion in extra, no-strings-attached military assistance for Israel even as the death toll in Gaza climbed rapidly and the administration faced warnings that it could be complicit in genocide.
Israel has also requested 24,000 assault rifles from the U.S., prompting fears that the far-right Israeli government intends to distribute some of the guns to extremist West Bank settlers as they ramp up violence against Palestinians.
On Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. House approved a military aid package that's likely dead on arrival in the Senate due to proposed Internal Revenue Service cuts. The Senate is working on its own aid package for Israel.
"U.S. funding for the Israeli military with no humanitarian conditions will take us farther away from ending the violence and reaching peace," Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who voted against the House package, said in a statement. "Not only do some of my colleagues want to send more weapons to carry out war crimes and violations of international law, but they want to do it by providing tax breaks to billionaires and undermining crucial investments in our communities."
"Instead of funding more bombs with American taxpayer dollars," Tlaib added, "our leaders should be calling for a cease-fire now, before this violence claims thousands more lives."
In recent days, the Biden administration has endorsed "humanitarian pauses" to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip, something Israel has rejected. During a Middle East visit over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed Arab leaders' calls for a cease-fire, insisting it would allow Hamas to "regroup."
The Biden administration has publicly declared that there are no conditions on U.S. aid as it faces an internal revolt and mass protests over its unwavering support for the Israeli government and refusal to support a cease-fire.
The Post reported Sunday that "administration officials and advisers say the levers the United States theoretically has over Israel, such as conditioning military aid on making the military campaign more targeted, are nonstarters, partly because they would be so politically unpopular in any administration and partly because, aides say, Biden himself has a personal attachment to Israel."
Duss noted Sunday that during the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden dismissed as "bizarre" Sanders' proposal to put conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel.
"Time to rethink that," Duss wrote.
"Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country who are standing up and speaking out for our voting rights, fundamental freedoms, and essential services like Social Security and Medicare."
In communities large and small across the United States on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people collectively took to the streets to make their opposition to President Donald Trump heard.
The people who took part in the organized protests ranged from very young children to the elderly and their message was scrawled on signs of all sizes and colors—many of them angry, some of them funny, but all in line with the "Hands Off" message that brought them together.
"Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country who are standing up and speaking out for our voting rights, fundamental freedoms, and essential services like Social Security and Medicare," said the group Stand Up America as word of the turnout poured in from across the country.
A relatively small, but representative sample of photographs from various demonstrations that took place follows.
Demonstrators gather on Boston Common, cheering and chanting slogans, during the nationwide "Hands Off!" protest against US President Donald Trump and his advisor, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in Boston, Massachusetts on April 5, 2025. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP)
"Everyone involved in this crime against humanity, and everyone who covered it up, would face prosecution in a world that had any shred of dignity left."
A video presented to officials at the United Nations on Friday and first made public Saturday by the New York Times provides more evidence that the recent massacre of Palestinian medics in Gaza did not happen the way Israeli government claimed—the latest in a long line of deception when it comes to violence against civilians that have led to repeated accusations of war crimes.
The video, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), was found on the phone of a paramedic found in a mass grave with a bullet in his head after being killed, along with seven other medics, by Israeli forces on March 23. The eight medics, buried in the shallow grave with the bodies riddled with bullets, were: Mustafa Khafaja, Ezz El-Din Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Refaat Radwan, Muhammad Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Libda, Muhammad Al-Hila, and Raed Al-Sharif. The video reportedly belonged to Radwan. A ninth medic, identified as Asaad Al-Nasasra, who was at the scene of the massacre, which took place near the southern city of Rafah, is still missing.
The PRCS said it presented the video—which refutes the explanation of the killings offered by Israeli officials—to members of the UN Security Council on Friday.
"They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives," Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN's humanitarian affairs office in Palestine, said last week after the bodies were discovered. Some of the victims, according to Gaza officials, were found with handcuffs still on them and appeared to have been shot in the head, execution-style.
The Israeli military initially said its soldiers "did not randomly attack" any ambulances, but rather claimed they fired on "terrorists" who approached them in "suspicious vehicles." Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesperson, said the vehicles that the soldiers opened fire on were driving with their lights off and did not have clearance to be in the area. The video evidence directly contradicts the IDF's version of events.
As the Times reports:
The Times obtained the video from a senior diplomat at the United Nations who asked not to be identified to be able to share sensitive information.
The Times verified the location and timing of the video, which was taken in the southern city of Rafah early on March 23. Filmed from what appears to be the front interior of a moving vehicle, it shows a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck, clearly marked, with headlights and flashing lights turned on, driving south on a road to the north of Rafah in the early morning. The first rays of sun can be seen, and birds are chirping.
In an interview with Drop Site News published Friday, the only known paramedic to survive the attack, Munther Abed, explained that he and his colleagues "were directly and deliberately shot at" by the IDF. "The car is clearly marked with 'Palestinian Red Crescent Society 101.' The car's number was clear and the crews' uniform was clear, so why were we directly shot at? That is the question."
The video's release sparked fresh outrage and demands for accountability on Saturday.
"The IDF denied access to the site for days; they sent in diggers to cover up the massacre and intentionally lied about it," said podcast producer Hamza M. Syed in reaction to the new revelations. "The entire leadership of the Israeli army is implicated in this unconscionable war crime. And they must be prosecuted."
"Everyone involved in this crime against humanity, and everyone who covered it up, would face prosecution in a world that had any shred of dignity left," said journalist Ryan Grim of DropSite News.
"They're dismantling our country. They're looting our government. And they think we'll just watch."
In communities across the United States and also overseas, coordinated "Hands Off" protests are taking place far and wide Saturday in the largest public rebuke yet to President Donald Trump and top henchman Elon Musk's assault on the workings of the federal government and their program of economic sabotage that is sacrificing the needs of working families to authoritarianism and the greed of right-wing oligarchs.
According to the organizers' call to action:
They're dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we'll just watch.
On Saturday, April 5th, we rise up with one demand: Hands Off!
This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way. They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam.
They're handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich. If we don't fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.
More than 1,000 "Hands Off!" demonstrations—organized by a large coalition of unions, progressive advocacy groups, and pro-democracy watchdogs—first kicked off Saturday in European, followed by East Coast communities in the U.S., and were set to continue throughout the day at various times, depending on location. See here for a list of scheduled "Hands Off" events—or schedule one in your community.
"The United States has a president, not a king," said the progressive advocacy group People's Action, one of the group's involved in the actions, in an email to supporters on Saturday just as protest events kicked off in hundreds of cities and communities. "Donald Trump has, by every measure, been working to make himself a king. He has become unanswerable to the courts, Congress, and the American people."
Citing the Republican president's thirst for "power and greed," the group explained why organized pressure must be built and sustained against the administration, especially at the conclusion of a week in which the global economy was spun into disarray by Trump's tariff announcement, his attack on the rule of law continued, and the twice-elected president admitted he was "not joking" about the possibility of seeking a third term, which is barred by the constitution.
"He is destroying the economy with tariffs in order to pay for the tax cuts he wants to push through to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies," warned People's Action. "He has ordered the government to round up innocent people off of the streets and put them in detention centers without due process because they dared to speak out using their First Amendment rights. And he is not close to being done—by his own admission, he is planning to run for a third term, which the Constitution does not allow."
Live stream of Hands Off rally in Washington, D.C.:
Below are photo or video dispatches from demonstrations around the world on Saturday. Check back for updates...
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Belgium:
Massachusetts:
Maine:
Washington, D.C.:
New York:
Minnesota:
Michigan:
Ohio:
Colorado:
Pennsylvania:
North Carolina:
The protest organizers warn that what Trump and Musk are up to "is not just corruption" and "not just mismanagement," but something far more sinister.
"This is a hostile takeover," they said, but vowed to fight back. "This is the moment where we say NO. No more looting, no more stealing, no more billionaires raiding our government while working people struggle to survive."