Citing Trump's Push for Ethnic Cleansing, Sanders Says Congress 'Must Act to Block' Arms Sales to Israel

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced Thursday he plans to force votes in the U.S. Senate next week on two joint resolutions of disapproval aimed at blocking proposed arms sales from the United States to Israel, citing U.S. President Trump's recent proposal for the Gaza Strip that human rights officials have called tantamount to ethnic cleansing, and other actions taken by Israel.

Sanders has put forward two joint resolutions of disapproval (JRDs), one aimed at blocking $6.75 billion in munitions and equipment, and a second one for $2.04 billions worth of munitions and related equipment.

The Independent senator—who last fall introduced JRDs to block the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel that ultimately did not pass—argues that Congress "must act to block" the sales in part due to U.S. President Donald Trump's talk of "forcibly displacing millions of people from Gaza."

At a press conference in early February with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that the United States would "take over" Gaza and "develop it." Trump said that U.S. developers will "level it out" and build the "Riviera of the Middle East" after Palestinians—"all of them"—leave Palestine's coastal enclave.

Last week, Israel's security cabinet approved a proposal to organize "a voluntary transfer for Gaza residents who express interest in moving to third countries, in accordance with Israeli and international law, and following the vision of U.S. President Donald Trump," according to CNN.

In his statement, Sanders said that "there is a name for such a policy—ethnic cleansing—and it's a war crime."

"Netanyahu has clearly violated U.S. and international law in this brutal war, and we must end our complicity in the carnage," Sanders added.

According to researchers with Brown University's the Costs of War Project, the U.S sent at least $17.9 billion in security assistance to Israel between October 2023 and September 2024.

Sanders said that Israel has used U.S.-supplied weapons to kill "a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants," resulting in unnecessary civilian deaths. "These actions are immoral and illegal," he said.

Last week, local health officials in Gaza announced that the death toll of Israel's deadly campaign on the enclave had surpassed 50,000 people. The grim milestone came after a wave of Israeli strikes that followed a two-month period of relative calm while a shaky cease-fire deal was in effect.

Hamas wanted to open talks for the second phase of the deal, that was supposed to see Israel fully withdraw from the enclave and Hamas release remaining living hostages. Israel instead wanted to impose the terms of a new cease-fire presented by the Trump administration, and refused to hold the talks regarding a permanent end to the war.

The senator also cited Israel's decision to halt humanitarian aid from entering into the Gaza Strip in early March. "Blocking humanitarian aid is morally abhorrent and a clear violation of both the Geneva Convention and the Foreign Assistance Act," according to the statement.