Senators Find Israel Is Ethnically Cleansing Gaza with US Support | Palestine Policy Roundup 09.15.25
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Nydia Velázquez: “The devastation in Gaza is unbearable. Entire families gone, neighborhoods erased, too often caused by bombs stamped Made in the USA. That’s why I support @repdeliaramirez Block the Bombs Act. No more blank checks for war and US weapons fueling genocide. We must demand peace.”
Rep. Jim McGovern: “Family is everything. But in Gaza, whole families are being wiped out—sometimes by a single U.S.-made bomb. Today I was proud to speak at a congressional briefing in support of @repdeliaramirez’s Block the Bombs Act, which ensures that not another cent funds this horror. Those who believe in a just, secure future for Israelis & Palestinians must back this bill.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “Today’s attack in Doha shows the Israeli govt once again violating international law even as they continue to starve the Palestinian people. This is exactly why I support the Block the Bombs Act to stop supplying Israel with weapons to enable this.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “The Israeli government is holding Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American citizen, in prison. He has been held without trial for over six months. He must be released.”
Rep. Mark Pocan: “No weapons should be sent from the United States to Israel that could be used against the people of Gaza. Instead of photo ops with Benjamin Netanyahu, it is time for condemnation. Help facilitate the serving of an arrest warrant from the ICC to him. Let's make him the international pariah he should be.”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
✨ CELEBRITIES URGE REPRESENTATIVES TO COSPONSOR BLOCK THE BOMBS ACT
Last Wednesday, actors Morgan Spector and Cynthia Nixon joined Dr. Adil Husain, who served patients in Gaza, and Mahmoud Khalil, in urging Representatives to cosponsor the Block the Bombs Act. The group met with Representatives and held a press conference about the bill that featured several Members of Congress, including Reps. Lateefah Simon, Val Hoyle, Lloyd Doggett, and more. IMEU Policy Project was proud to co-host these celebrities with Jewish Voice for Peace Action.
20 Representatives have now joined the Block the Bombs Act since the beginning of the August recess–including five in just the past week. That brings the total number of cosponsors to 46, which is more than 20% of all Democratic Representatives. Elected officials are increasingly catching up to the will of voters, 60% of whom oppose sending more weapons to Israel. This sentiment is even more strongly seen among Democratic voters, 75% of whom oppose sending more weapons to Israel.
As Israel continues its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and campaign of ethnic cleansing, Democrats must stand up against unbridled US support for Israel’s crimes. Supporting the Block the Bombs Act is a crucial first step in that direction.
💡 POLICY ASK: IMEU Policy Project strongly urges all Representatives to cosponsor the historic Block the Bombs Act to ensure that US laws regarding weapons transfers are upheld.
📖 LEARN MORE Check out IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo on the need for the Block the Bombs Act.
📣 TAKE ACTION: Write to your Representative and urge them to sign on to the Block the Bombs Act, or thank them for signing on!
🚨 SENATORS: ISRAEL PURSUING PLAN TO “ETHNICALLY CLEANSE” PALESTINIANS FROM GAZA
Senators Jeff Merkley and Chris Van Hollen released a report that echoed the voices of Palestinians, reaching the "inescapable conclusion” that Israel is implementing plans for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza, and that the US is complicit. The report follows the Senators’ recent Congressional delegation to Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank, and Israel, where they observed how Israel is pursuing this campaign.
The report goes into great detail about how obstacles placed by Israel are blocking the delivery and safe distribution of humanitarian aid by any actor other than the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which Israel is using to weaponize food. The Senators say that this deliberate obstruction of aid is one part of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign.
The Senators noted that Israel has arbitrarily slowed the process by which trucks are inspected at the Jordanian border with the West Bank. These delays occur despite the US setting up a screening facility and paying $1.5 million for machines that facilitate that process at the request of Israel. That facility and those machines have sat unused since Israel unilaterally violated the ceasefire agreement in March.
Because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli government, the Jordanian humanitarian aid crossing is operating at less than 10% of its capacity.
The Senators also noted that humanitarian aid trucks are entirely turned away if carrying a single restricted item–which can include items that are suddenly banned, such as honey, dates, and peanut butter. Israel charges a $400 processing fee for every truck that is inspected, and if a truck is turned away, it is charged that fee once again.
The second element of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign is the Israeli military’s deliberate destruction of infrastructure in Gaza. The Senators noted that they witnessed the aftermath of Israel’s flattening of Rafah from Egypt, and echoed the many reports detailing the obliteration of homes, hospitals, schools, and more in Gaza. They also reported that when they attempted to see the destruction of Gaza for themselves by joining a Jordanian airdrop mission, the clearance for the mission was denied.
The Senators noted in a press conference announcing the report that the US is enabling Israel’s implementation of this plan by providing the weapons used by Israel in its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.
This report is only the latest in mountains of evidence that Israel is violating international and US law as it commits genocidal violence in Gaza. Israel is deliberately obstructing the entry of aid, which is a violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, and is violating the Arms Export Control Act through its targeting of civilians and indiscriminate destruction of infrastructure across Gaza; violations of these laws necessitate the immediate halt of all weapons deliveries to Israel.
In order to stop US complicity in the crimes outlined in the report, Members of Congress must immediately exercise their oversight authority to stop US weapons transfers to Israel.
IN THE NEWS
💣 ISRAEL ATTACKS CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATORS, AT LEAST 3 OTHER COUNTRIES OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW DAYS
Last Wednesday, Israel bombed a Doha residential building where Hamas negotiators were gathering to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal by the US. That attack reportedly did not kill any senior members of the Hamas delegation, but did kill others–including a Qatari security official.
This attack is likely to impact Qatari relations with Israel as it continues to mediate ceasefire negotiations with Hamas. While it is continuing its mediation efforts, Qatar has vowed a collective regional response with other Gulf states.
This attack also demonstrates Israel’s lack of interest in negotiating a ceasefire, which fits into its trend of sabotaging ceasefire negotiations, as outlined by former State Department Spokesperson Matt Miller and others in a report by Israel’s Channel 13.
As Israel bombed Qatar in violation of international law last week, it also bombed at least three other countries with the impunity afforded by the unrestricted flow of US weapons. Israel violated its truce with Lebanon, as it has done many times, with more strikes in the country last Monday. Israel also continued to attack Syria and Yemen. Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla also accused Israel of attacking them while they were in port in Tunisia. Israel has also continued its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza as it has engaged in violence elsewhere.
⛵ GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA ORGANIZERS ACCUSE ISRAEL OF ATTACKING BOATS TWICE IN 24 HOURS
Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla have accused Israel of committing two attacks on boats that are part of its mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza while they were in port in Tunisia. Flotilla organizers said that the attacks were carried out using drones that dropped incendiary devices on the decks of the Family and the Alma. The attack on the Family reportedly caused a small fire that spread below deck.
While it is not immediately clear whether Israel was behind these attacks, evidence and past experience suggest that it may have once again attacked activists.
An investigation published by Bellingcat supported the organizers’ reports of the drones and incendiary devices used in the attacks. That investigation also identified fragments of the device dropped on the Alma as matching the appearance of thermite grenades used by Western militaries, including Israel.
Israel also has a history of attacking missions that have attempted to break its siege of Gaza. Earlier this year, Israeli naval commandos illegally boarded the Madleen and the Handala, missions of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, while in international waters, and detained their crews. In March, a drone attacked and disabled the Conscience, another mission of the coalition. That mission’s crew accused Israel of carrying out the attack.
Despite these attacks, the flotilla is perservering–which is what the word “sumud” means–and is pressing on with its mission to break Israel’s near-total blockade of the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🏠 ISRAEL ISSUES FORCED DISPLACEMENT ORDER FOR ALL OF GAZA CITY, TELLS PALESTINIANS TO GO TO SO-CALLED HUMANITARIAN ZONE
Last Tuesday, the Israeli military officially issued a forced displacement order for all of Gaza City and ordered the approximately one million Palestinians who are sheltering there to move to the so-called humanitarian zone in Al Mawasi. Gaza City was the last part of northern Gaza that was not under displacement orders or was not an Israeli military combat zone.
This displacement order also reiterated others issued to other parts of northern Gaza and also ordered Palestinians sheltering there to move to the same area. Up to 200,000 Palestinians have left Gaza City according to the Israeli military, though other sources place the number lower at 50,000.
Many Palestinians are staying in Gaza City because of the exorbitant cost of moving to the south or because of overcrowding and other issues at the so-called humanitarian zone. Displaced Palestinians in Gaza City reported that moving south can cost as much as $1,200. If they are able to get to Al Mawasi, Palestinians are faced with severe overcrowding caused by Israel’s displacement of Palestinians from elsewhere in Gaza. Overcrowding there has also exacerbated the spread of disease as Israel destroys medical infrastructure.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: A Palestinian man who attempted to flee to the south described the difficulty of sheltering there to Drop Site News: “We arrived at Mawasi, Khan Younis and stayed there, but there was heavy shelling. They even shelled the tents. We fled Khan Younis and went to Deir al-Balah. We got there and found it was also a red zone—still a terrifying place. Even if you find land to live on [in the south], whether it's public or privately owned, someone will come and say, ‘I want payment by the meter.’…We had no choice but to leave the south and come back to Gaza City. As you can see, we’re putting up tarps, gathering blankets, tearing them apart and using them. We get curtains and wood from the streets to support ourselves.”
Israel has repeatedly attacked the so-called humanitarian zone in Al Mawasi. Just a few weeks ago, the Israeli military dropped a US-supplied bomb, specifically a 500-pound MK-82, on a home in the area.
Palestinians who cannot or will not leave Gaza City report being attacked by explosive and incendiary devices dropped by Israeli drones while sheltering in their homes or tents. These are also reportedly used to ignite fires in clinics, markets, and vehicles.
This order comes as Israel continues its invasion and flattening of the city as part of its campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza. The Israeli military has destroyed 16 high rises in Gaza City after it announced last week that every high rise building there is a target for destruction. According to an analysis published by CNN, the Israeli military has destroyed or damaged 1,800 buildings in and around Gaza City between August 9 and September 5. Satellite images reviewed by CNN also confirmed that Israel is carrying out this destruction using excavators and bulldozers, revealing the systematic and deliberate nature of the flattening of the area.
Photo: Anas-Mohammed, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2577355937