Progressive US Lawmakers Call for Arms Embargo to Halt Israeli Escalation in Lebanon

Progressive lawmakers in the U.S. House expressed alarm Wednesday over Israel's ongoing bombardment of Lebanon and called on the Biden administration to take immediate steps to stop the deadly violence, including halting the flow of American weapons to the Israeli military.

"Our district is home to one of the largest, most vibrant Lebanese communities in the nation," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the lone Palestinian American in the U.S. Congress. "While our families mourn the ongoing genocide in Gaza, they are now witnessing the Israeli government's indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon."

"The Biden-Harris administration continues to allow Netanyahu and the Israeli government to operate with impunity as they carry out war crimes," Tlaib added. "Deploying more U.S. troops and sending more U.S. bombs will only lead to more suffering and carnage. The Biden-Harris administration is capable of stopping the bloodshed. President [Joe] Biden must implement an immediate arms embargo to end the slaughter and deescalate the risk of a wider regional war."

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) implored the Biden administration—which has supplied Israel with more than 50,000 tons of military equipment in less than a year—to "use every single tool to deescalate tensions," including cutting off military aid to "stop the violence both in Lebanon and Gaza."

"We cannot continue to stand idly by while innocent civilians are being bombarded with our tax dollars," said Omar.

"We must use our leverage with regional actors to deescalate regional tensions and prevent further violence from erupting."

Separately, CPC chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—who heads the CPC's Peace and Security Task Force—said in a statement Wednesday that they are "deeply concerned by the disturbing number of civilian deaths in the latest bombings in Lebanon as well as new missile fire preventing thousands from returning to their homes in northern Israel."

"We have long warned of the dangers of escalating violence in the region, which has killed U.S. service members and harmed communities across the Middle East," said Jayapal and Lee. "The American people have made clear they do not want another war in the Middle East and we must use our leverage with regional actors to deescalate regional tensions and prevent further violence from erupting."

"As members of Congress," they added, "we also reaffirm our solemn responsibility to ensure that any use of U.S. force be brought first for a vote before Congress, consistent with the Constitution."

The statements from the progressive U.S. lawmakers came as Israel carried out another barrage of airstrikes in Lebanon and signaled a possible ground invasion.

"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," General Herzi Halevi told Israeli troops Wednesday on the border with Lebanon. "This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah."

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week, Biden said that "full-scale war is not in anyone's interest" and called for a "diplomatic solution."

But Biden's remarks were not well-received in Lebanon. Abdallah Bou Habib, the country's foreign minister, said the president's address in New York was neither "strong" nor "promising," adding that only decisive action from the U.S. "can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon."

The U.S. is Israel's top ally and arms supplier. While it's unclear whether American-made weaponry has been used during Israel's deadly bombing campaigns in Lebanon this week, Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute toldThe Intercept that it would "almost be more shocking to see a non-U.S.-supplied weapon being used in southern Lebanon," given how heavily Israel relies on U.S. arms.

"As more forensic evidence is recovered in Lebanon," said Semler, "we shouldn't be surprised to see U.S. fingerprints all over it."