Progressives in the House of Representatives seek to stop US arming of Israel.

A group of 22 Democratic members of the House of Representatives has introduced a bill calling for a series of sweeping and unprecedented new restrictions on US aid to Israel, requiring specific congressional authorizations for each transfer of several major weapons, and assurances from Israel regarding their use.

This legislation prohibits the administration from transferring or selling a range of weapons to Israel, including various types of bombs, bomb guidance kits, and tank and artillery ammunition, without a separate act of Congress authorizing the individual transfer.

The bill requires Congress, in authorizing arms sales to Israel, to specify "the specific purpose or purposes for which such articles or services may be used." Israel must provide "written assurances satisfactory to the President" that the weapons will be used in accordance with those specific purposes, and in accordance with existing US arms sales law—which already binds Israel—and international law. The proposal, which has no prospect of passage in the current Congress, goes beyond the conditions previously placed on US arms sales to Israel.

With Israel's war of extermination against the people of Gaza continuing, and essential aid being prevented from reaching civilians, the bill's authors see this step as urgent.

The bill was highlighted Thursday during a press conference at the Capitol hosted by Ramirez, who said her determination to pass the bill over the past two weeks has been deepened by the ongoing violence.

“What I know is that the bombing must stop. The hostages must be returned. We must stand up against the hateful anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Semitic rhetoric that denies our common humanity, and the collective punishment of the Palestinian people must end,” Ramirez said, speaking near the Capitol on a sunny day, surrounded by politicians and activists holding signs reading “Stop the Bombing.”

“But instead of moving toward a just peace, in recent months the Netanyahu government has imposed a humanitarian blockade that has cut off food and aid to more than two million Palestinians,” she added, referring to the bombing of displaced civilians as they sought refuge. “The recently approved plans to take over the Gaza Strip have initiated a ground invasion.”

Jayapal then took the stage, where she highlighted the importance of the bill, given the close relationship between the United States and Israel.

"We have to realize that we are responsible for this horrific situation, because we, the United States government, continue to supply Israel with weapons to continue this destruction. This must stop. How many more children will we see burned in fires?" she asked.

“How many more massacres will we witness while the Netanyahu government uses weapons funded by American taxpayers to kill Palestinians with impunity?”

The third speaker, Jan Schakowsky, a longtime progressive member of the House of Representatives whose Jewish identity makes her particularly concerned about Israel's human rights record, said: "This is an important message to deliver as a Jewish person from the United States, and as someone who travels regularly to Israel as well. I am appalled that we are contributing to the deaths of innocent people in Gaza."

If this law is passed, it will be the first time that the US Congress has preemptively prevented the supply of weapons to Israel.

The bill is spearheaded by Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and co-sponsored by Reps. Sarah Jacobs (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Becca Balint (D-VA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Greg Casar (D-TX), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), and Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Summer Lee (D-PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MIN), Ayanna

Pressley (Democrat from Massachusetts), Latifah Simon (Democrat from California), Rashida Tlaib (Democrat from Michigan), Nydia Velasquez (Democrat from New York), Bonnie Watson Coleman (Democrat from New Jersey).