WASHINGTON: Around 57 US House Democrats have signed an open letter calling for Biden’s administration to take every possible step to stop an Israeli offensive on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
According to Arab media, the group, led by Representatives Madeleine Dean and Pramila Jayapal, said Washington “must act to protect innocent life.” The letter said, “We urge you to invoke the current law and policy to immediately withhold certain offensive military support to the Israel, including aid sourced from legislation already inked into law, to prevent a full-scale attack on Rafah.”
President Biden’s support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fuelled increasing discontent among sections of Democrats ahead of the upcoming presidential polls in the US. The “uncommitted” protest campaign is also gathering pace, while pro-Palestine protestors have also taken hold at college campuses across the US.
On the other hand, Colombia said it will break diplomatic ties with Israel on Thursday over its actions against Gazans. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has made the announcement at a rally in Bogotá’s Bolívar Square, describing the Israeli government’s handling of the war in the Gaza Strip as “genocidal.”
Meanwhile, local media reported that two people have been killed and five wounded in an Israeli air strike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza and artillery shooting east of Fukhari in the south of the territory. Children were among the injured, local media reported. Israel’s war in the Gaza has killed over 34,000 people, the Palestinian health ministry said.
