Republicans seem to be settling on a rather cruel excuse to oppose aid to Gaza amid the growing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory as the Israel-Hamas war continues.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a plan to send $100 million worth of food, water, medicine and other essential supplies to Gaza to aid the roughly 2 million people currently stuck there as they try to survive the war. Israel had been blocking nations and humanitarian groups from delivering aid to Gaza, alleging it would be stolen by Hamas. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said last week that his country would allow the aid to pass through Egypt — at President Joe Biden’s request — so long as it doesn’t go to Hamas.
The Biden administration has promised that a "continued flow" of aid will be allowed into Gaza after its discussions with Israel. And the administration wants Congress to authorize more aid for Gaza as part of a $105 billion package that would also provide assistance to Israel, as well as to Ukraine amid its ongoing war against Russia.
But Republicans are signaling their opposition to aiding the people of Gaza.
In anticipation of the aid request last week, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., re-introduced a bill he calls the “Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act.”
The bill would block the U.S. from sending aid to Gaza unless "the President certifies" that the funds will not benefit Hamas or "any other organization designated by the Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization." It would also prohibit sending funds “through any United Nations entity or office unless the President certifies ... that such entity or office is not encouraging or teaching anti-Israel or anti-Semitic ideas or propaganda."
But considering that conservatives such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump have sought to frame all Gazan people as being antisemitic or allied with Hamas, and sought to frame critics of Israel the same way, it’s easy to imagine the bill being used to prohibit virtually any aid to Gaza if it were signed into law.
Fortunately, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday objected to Scott's call for unanimous consent of the bill. In a speech on the Senate floor, Sanders, who is Jewish, noted the importance of eradicating Hamas but also highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“What our country must not be involved in is making the horrific and miserable situation in Gaza even worse,” he said.
But another bill sponsored by Senate Republicans looks to deny aid to Gaza completely — and redirect it to Israel’s government instead.
Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and several Republican co-sponsors have backed a law called the “Emergency Resupply for Iron Dome Act of 2023,” which would “halt U.S. foreign assistance from going to Hamas terrorist-dominated areas,” he said in a statement. The bill calls for the funds to be used for Israel's missile defense system, instead.
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast of Florida backed his GOP Senate colleagues' efforts to block aid in an interview last week with Newsmax, saying, “The only thing that could stop it from going into the hands of terrorists would be the common sense of not sending it at all.” He wasn't the only Republican to make a similar claim on the far-right network last week.
Much of the world has been expressing sympathy for the plight of Gazans caught in the midst of war. Republicans? Not so much.