Van Hollen Statement on Biden Administration Demanding Netanyahu Government Address Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s letter urging Israeli leaders to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza – citing the requirements of National Security Memorandum-20 (NSM-20) and other relevant U.S. law. The NSM is modeled off of an amendment proposed by the Senator earlier this year, along with nearly 20 of his colleagues, to ensure U.S. security assistance is used in line with international law.

“As the humanitarian situation in Gaza has gone from horrible to catastrophic, the Biden Administration has failed in its ongoing duty to apply the law and terms of NSM-20. Today’s action falls into the category of better late than never – we will carefully monitor the situation to see if the Administration will finally hold the Netanyahu government to account in meeting the requirements set forth in the secretaries’ letter.”