US lawmaker slams Biden administration over 'horrors' in Gaza from 'unrestrained' Israel

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday criticized the Biden administration over the “horrors” seen in Gaza due to the actions of an "unrestrained" Israel.

"The horrors unfolding in northern Gaza are the result of a completely unrestrained Netanyahu gov, fully armed by the Biden admin while food aid is blocked and patients are bombed in hospitals. This is a genocide of Palestinians,” she wrote on X.

"The US must stop enabling it. Arms embargo now,” added Ocasio-Cortez, a high-profile progressive lawmaker.

Her remarks came after the Pentagon announced on Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment to Israel of a THAAD anti-missile system battery and a crew of US military personnel to operate it to help bolster the country's air defenses following missile attacks by Iran in April and on Oct. 1.

Over the last year, Israel has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million people, while also generating famine-like conditions and the spread of disease. It is now also carrying out air and ground raids in Lebanon, despite warnings that this could turn the war into a larger regional conflict.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.