US President Joe Biden said that countries getting American weapons must follow the rules of international law in a memo on Thursday night.
The new rule says that countries getting military help must promise in writing that they are following the rules of war.
The president admits that Israel went too far in its response in Gaza. This led to the decision to move.
Israel gets the most money for the military from the United States.
President Biden wrote in a memo saying that if foreign governments want to get weapons from the US, they must promise in writing to use them the right way, following international laws.
Foreign governments also need to promise that they will make sure US aid gets to civilians in war zones.
The memo says that Congress and the president should be given this information regularly.
All 100 countries that get weapons from the US have to promise within the next 180 days. But the countries in conflict, like Israel, only have 45 days to respond to the order.
The memo says that if a problem comes up, we need to make a plan to fix it.
It means that they might stop giving weapons or other support, until the problem is fixed.
Every year, Washington gives Israel about $3. 8 billion in military aid, which makes Israel the biggest recipient of this kind of funding in the world.
Government officials said on Thursday that the order does not focus on any specific country. This comes after Democratic lawmakers expressed worries about Israel’s military actions in Gaza and if they followed international laws.
Senator Chris Van Hollen is happy that Congress is trying to make sure that countries who receive military aid have to obey international rules.
Sen Van Hollen said he thinks this will help Biden make sure that all countries getting US military help, like Israel, follow the rules of international humanitarian law and work together to give out humanitarian aid.
The military campaign started because Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th and killed 1,300 people, according to Israeli officials. 250 more people were kidnapped.
Since Israel’s counterattack, over 27,800 Palestinians have been killed and at least 67,000 have been injured, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.
Video from the air above Gaza shows that many buildings in the area have been damaged or destroyed. Approximately 17 million people, which is more than 80% of Gaza’s population, have to leave their homes and stay in other places.
Since the war in October, there hasn’t been as much aid going to the people in Gaza. The UN has said that many people there are in danger of not having enough food to eat.
Earlier this week, the leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the military has been told to get ready to go to Rafah, a city next to Egypt where 1. 5 million Palestinians are living.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel will soon have a complete victory over Hamas.
The US said on Thursday that attacking the city without a good plan would be a bad idea.
The White House said it wouldn’t support big operations without thinking about the refugees there first.
Tag: Laws
-
Nations we provide arms to shoud follow laws of war – US warns
-
Ghana to partner with IPU, others to fight intolerance and promote diversity – Bagbin
The Speaker of parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has assured of the nation’s commitment to collaborate with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to fight intolerance and promote peaceful co-existence in societies.
According to him, this is the only sure way for the world to know true peace and prosperity.
In a speech at the ongoing 146th IPU Assembly in Manama, Bahrain, on Monday, March 13, 2022, the Speaker touted the values of good democratic governance, which the Ghanaian parliament is translating for the utmost benefit of its people.
Explaining further, Speaker Alban Bagbin said this is evident in the large gender parity delegation the Ghanaian parliament sent to the conference to further the course of the theme and humanity as a whole.
“The IPU can rely on the Parliament of Ghana to achieve the theme of this Assembly. The Parliament,of Ghana will partner with the IPU and all members to fight intolerance and promote peaceful co-existence and inclusive societies. The Parliament of Ghana is translating the values and principles of good democratic governance into concrete benefits for the people,” he said.
“This explains why a large gender parity delegation of four ladies, four men, three of whom are from government and three from the opposition, led by the Speaker from Ghana, is here to work with the IPU and its members to craft out resolutions that will further the course of the theme and humanity as a whole,” he added.
Rt Hon Bagbin also added charged legislators worldwide to encourage tolerance and inclusive development through the laws they promulgate.
“As legislators, it behoves on us to encourage tolerance and inclusive development through the laws we make and, particularly, through the tools of our oversight of the Executive to ensure that our respective countries are set on the paths of peace, security and sustainability. We have to commit ourselves to holding governments of our countries to contain corruption, eliminate waste, ignorance and greed. This is the smooth road to building fair, just and prosperous societies.”
He also noted to participants and the world at large to be mindful of the need to co-exist.
“We must, therefore, not only learn to co-exist in peace, but we must also work to promote inclusive growth and development by consciously working to prop up the development of the least developed nations. Underdevelopment and poverty are some of the main drivers of intolerance, such as xenophobia, terrorism, conflicts, etc.”
Some 2,700 delegates drawn from more than 179 countries across the globe have gathered in the Kingdom of Bahrain for the conference under the theme, “Promoting peaceful co-existence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance.”