President Biden is facing a big test this week. He has to tell Congress about Israel’s actions in Gaza. This report could stop the U.S. from helping Israel.
This report is required by the National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM 20). Biden made this in February, and he has to finish it by May 8. This memo says the government must check if Israel is using U.S. weapons according to the rules of war and human rights.
If Israel is breaking these rules, Biden has 45 days to decide what to do next.
Many people don’t think Biden will punish Israel a lot for fighting Hamas in Gaza. But he has been more open to punishing Israel for hurting Palestinians.
This includes punishing Israeli settlers and supporters in the West Bank for hurting Palestinians. Biden also said that five Israeli military units in the West Bank broke human rights rules.
Biden’s team has not punished these units yet. They say Israel is trying to fix the problems.
A lot of people on college campuses protested the U.S. helping Israel in the last few weeks. Some Democrats want Biden to follow NSM 20 and punish Israel. They say Israel is stopping humanitarian help from getting to Palestinians in Gaza.
If Israel is stopping help from getting to Palestinians, the U.S. has to stop helping Israel.
Biden made NSM 20 because some Democrats wanted him to check Israel’s actions in Gaza. But Biden can cancel this memo if he wants. Some Republicans are angry about this memo. They say Biden is trying to make people who don’t like helping Israel happy.
Democrats are worried that Biden will hide behind unclear words and rules to protect Israel. They want to know how Biden will check if a country is breaking the rules, like Israel.
Some Democrats even made a report about Israel’s bad actions. They found a lot of times when Israel did not follow the rules of war and human rights.
This report doesn’t tell Biden what to do. Biden’s team has said that Israel is trying to fix its problems. But some people don’t think the U.S. will really punish Israel for what it did.
The situation in Gaza is really bad. Biden has said that Israel bombed Gaza too much and hurt a lot of people, including women and children.
But some people say Hamas, the group fighting Israel, is also to blame. They say Hamas puts civilians in danger by fighting from places where civilians live.
Biden has started to punish Israel a little bit for what it did. But some people say the U.S. is not being fair to Israel.
People are waiting to see what Biden will do next.
