Sen. Sanders Vows Vote to Block Bulldozers, Bombs to Israel | Palestine Policy Roundup 3.31.26
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
⏳ SENATOR SANDERS VOWS VOTE TO BLOCK BULLDOZERS, BOMBS GIVEAWAYS TO ISRAEL
Last Saturday, Senator Bernie Sanders vowed to force votes on his Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to stop the delivery of bombs and bulldozers to Israel.
💡 VOTE REC: IMEU Policy Project strongly encourages Senators to vote yes on these JRDs.
BLOCKING BULLDOZERS: Last March, Senator Sanders introduced S.J.Res.32 to prevent the delivery of Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers to Israel, which were included in a weapons package last year.
DESTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION: Israel has used these bulldozers in possible war crimes and violations of international law in Gaza and the West Bank.
The Israeli military has a documented practice of using bulldozers to destroy Palestinian homes and permanently displace Palestinians.
Several Israeli soldiers told +972 Magazine that bulldozers contribute to Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza. Last November, Human Rights Watch reported that these bulldozers contributed to Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians from West Bank refugee camps, which the NGO called a crime against humanity.
Amnesty International reported that Israel damaged or destroyed 10,000 civilian structures in Lebanon between 2024 and 2025, some of which were damaged or destroyed by bulldozers. Amnesty International called for this wanton destruction of civilian structures to be investigated as a war crime.
BLOCKING BOMBS: Earlier this month, Senator Sanders was joined by Senators Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, and Peter Welch in introducing JRDs to stop the delivery of 27,000 bombs to Israel, including 250-pound, 500-pound, and 1,000-pound bombs. These bombs have been connected to numerous attacks, including possible war crimes, during the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran, Israel’s war on Lebanon, and Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
📖 LEARN MORE about how Israel has used these bombs in its genocidal violence in Gaza and how Israel has used these bulldozers to displace Palestinians in our recent policy memos.
💰 STATE DEPT. SENDS TAXPAYER MONEY TO TRUMP GAZA BOARD
Last Thursday, Semafor reported that the State Department is sending $1.25 billion of taxpayer dollars to President Trump’s Gaza Board. This money is likely to be deposited in the Board’s slush fund, which Trump will likely use to enrich his family members, donors, and political allies rather than benefit Palestinian survivors of Israel’s genocide.
TRUMP’S CORPORATE BOARD: Trump’s board, which he personally leads and has total control of its agenda and membership, is a key piece of his 2025 plan for the corporate takeover of Gaza.
A key piece of Trump’s plan includes the forced displacement and confinement of Palestinians into militarized reservations. Palestinians would be forced to submit to high-tech surveillance in order to receive basic services and humanitarian aid.
These funds could contribute to the forced displacement of Palestinians and their confinement to these militarized ghettos, in violation of both US and international law.
🔑 KEY CONTEXT: Zaha Hassan and Charles Johnson of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted the problematic nature of the board: “...with the chairman holding final authority over the Board’s budget, little opportunity exists for mitigating risks or ensuring monies will be spent in furtherance of the objectives set out in Security Council Resolution 2803.”
📖 LEARN MORE about Trump’s board and how it denies Palestinian self-determination in our recent policy memo about Trump’s takeover plan for Gaza.
🏛️ REP. TLAIB INTROS RESOLUTIONS AGAINST ISRAELI WAR ON LEBANON
Last Friday, Rep. Rashida Tlaib introduced two resolutions opposing Israel’s bombing and invasion of Lebanon and US complicity in Israel’s actions there.
STANDING AGAINST INVASION: Rep. Tlaib introduced a resolution (H.Res.1146) that calls on the US to use its leverage to end the Israeli bombing and invasion of Lebanon, reject Israel’s threatened occupation of part of the country, support the right of displaced Lebanese to return to their homes, and prosecute war crimes committed by Israel.
This resolution comes at a critical moment: just last weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu–who is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court–threatened to expand Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon
WAR POWERS RESOLUTION: Rep. Tlaib also co-introduced a War Powers Resolution (H.Con.Res.83) with Reps. Delia Ramirez and Nydia Velázquez. The WPR seeks to end US support for Israel’s assault on Lebanon, including targeting assistance and intelligence sharing.⚖️ ISRAEL PASSES EXECUTION LAW TARGETING PALESTINIAN PRISONERS
Yesterday, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill that will impose the death penalty on Palestinians who are convicted in kangaroo military courts in the illegally occupied West Bank. The bill also allows Israeli civilian courts to sentence to death Palestinians within Israel.
APARTHEID EXECUTIONS: This law further intensifies Israel’s apartheid system imposed on Palestinians.
The bill would not apply to Israeli settlers who kill Palestinians in the West Bank, and it is expected to be applied solely against Palestinians, not Jewish Israelis, in civil courts.
According to the Israeli NGO B’Tselem, military courts convict 96% of Palestinians tried there. Only Palestinians are tried in these military courts. Palestinians often falsely confess to crimes as a plea bargain to avoid an almost guaranteed harsher sentence meted out in these kangaroo courts. Confessions are also frequently obtained by Israel through the widespread use of torture, further undermining the legitimacy of these courts which will now be imposing the death penalty on Palestinians.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “Trump’s Board of Peace is a money laundering scam. Billionaires are stealing $1.25B in taxpayer dollars to develop Gaza into their personal Riviera! The Board of Peace isn’t about peacekeeping or aid; it’s about profit. The future of Palestine must be led and directed by the Palestinian people – not by Donald Trump and his billionaire friends.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen pressed a Trump administration official on the decision to expedite the delivery of 20,000 bombs to Israel as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called for the flattening of Lebanon, just as Israel did in Rafah.
Sen. Ruben Gallego: “Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is unacceptable. The Israeli Government needs to stop being complicit. The perpetrators of these attacks must be arrested and prosecuted. This violence undermines U.S. interests, fuels instability, and violates human rights.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “The Israeli government is about to pass a law mandating the death penalty, only for Palestinian prisoners. Mass execution by hanging, solely on racial lines. This is apartheid and the next step in the genocide of Palestinians, already systematically tortured in Israeli prisons.”
Photo: Jana Shea, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 1453864034