Democratic Party Condemns Attack On Rafah, How Long Will The US Be Silent When Israel Slaughters Palestinian Babies?

IDF troops in Rafah May 2024. (Source: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - US Democratic Party politician, a party from President Joe Biden, has again pressured the Washington administration to reduce its support for Israel, as attacks on Rafah killed civilians, while the White House again asked Israel to take all measures to prevent civilian casualties.

Israeli airstrikes in Rafah on Sunday night hit refugee camps and killed about 45 people, mostly children, women and parents.

That adds to the pressure on President Joe Biden's administration from within his own party that existed before the Israeli airstrikes drew international condemnation.

US House of Representatives member of the Democratic Party Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday called the attack "unsustainable cruelty", adding in a post on social media, "It's been a long time for the President to keep his promises and temporarily suspend military aid," as quoted by Reuters on May 28.

Israel continued to carry out attacks on Rafah despite a UN high court decision on Friday ordering them to stop its attacks, arguing the court's decision gave them (militan, red) room to carry out military action there.

"TERrible and heartbreaking images appear on Rafah", Democratic Democratic House of Representatives memberkona Pressley said in a post on social media.

"How long will the US remain silent while the Israeli military slaughters and mutilates Palestinian babies?"

Meanwhile, the only Palestinian-American to become a member of the US Congress through the US House of Representatives from the Democratic Party, Rashida Tlaib, called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "genocidal manifold".

Gaza officials and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the target area for the attack was a refugee camp recently established near the warehouse of the United Nations Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in northwest of Rafah. It is said to be a safe zone.

However, the Israeli military said the airstrikes were precise and based on appropriate intelligence information, managed to kill two senior commanders of the Hamas group.

Regarding the attack, President Biden's administration called on Israel to take every precautionary measure to protect civilians, after a military offensive in Rafah killed Palestinians.

"Israel has the right to attack Hamas, and we understand this attack killed two senior Hamas terrorists responsible for the attack on Israeli civilians," said a spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC).

"But as we have explained, Israel must take all precautions to protect civilians," he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself said there was something wrong with the attack that was not meant to target civilians, with his party conducting an investigation into the incident.

A NSC spokesman said the US Government was "actively involved" with the Israeli military and others on the ground to assess what happened.