AOC claims Israel is guilty of ‘war crimes’ after Hamas invasion: Squad member again calls for a ceasefire as she slams BOTH sides

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused Israel of “war crimes” as the close US ally prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza amid increased fears of a spreading war.

The New York Democrat and “squad” member condemned “bigotry and insensitivity” during a rally in Times Square just days after the Hamas terror attack in Israel.

But she has also called for a ceasefire, and on Sunday she labeled both Hamas’ attack and Israel’s response – including cutting off water and energy in what the government has called a siege – as war crimes.

“War crimes do not constitute and are not an appropriate response to other war crimes,” she told MSNBC on Sunday. “Hamas’ hostage taking, its taking of children, of disabled people and of elderly citizens, is a war crime,” she said. said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the Hamas attack a “war crime” — but also applied that language to Israel cutting off water and energy supplies to Gaza as it tries to retrieve hostages and prepares for a possible ground invasion.

But when we talk about the blocking of water, food and electricity for a population of 2.2 million Palestinians, it is unacceptable to think that 1,700 children, Palestinian children alone, will somehow have their deaths attributable to the violence of will make amends or justify the Palestinians. what we saw on October 7.”

Her condemnation of Israel’s tactics comes amid reports that despite President Biden’s undisguised defense of Israel, the Biden administration has privately warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to delay a possible ground invasion out of concern about the potential consequences.

According to the WashingtonPostBiden “expressed his concerns and asked questions” to Natanyahu during their meeting in Israel during Biden’s seven-hour trip last week.

An Israeli officer walks on the grounds of the Super Nova Festival in Re’im, Israel, October 17, 2023, which was attacked by Hamas on October 7. Israel has pledged to eradicate Hamas in response

Palestinians receive food at a UN-run school in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on October 23, 2023. Since the start of the war, Israel has cut off the supply of water, electricity, fuel and food to the Palestinian enclave of more than 2 million people

Biden himself told reporters traveling with him back from Israel: “I have warned the government of Israel not to be blinded by anger.”

In public remarks in Israel, he compared the attack to the September 11 attacks, saying it was “like 15 9/11s” in the scale of life lost.

He and his team helped negotiate with the Egyptian government the first delivery of food and medical aid to Gaza since the Hamas attack, amid a wave of protests in both Middle Eastern and European capitals.

Israel’s energy minister has pledged not to allow fuel or electricity into Gaza until the estimated 200 Israeli hostages return home.

On Friday, Hamas released two American hostages seized during the attacks: Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that 10 Americans who were in Israel during the attack are still missing.

Hamas’ attack and Israel’s response have led to a division between “squad members” and more traditional party leaders who have sided with Israel.

Fellow member Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has been lambasted for blaming Israel for the attack on a hospital in Gaza, after the US government, Israel and independent analysts said the most likely scenario was an errant rocket fired from Gaza was fired upon. .

“As an American, and not just as a member of Congress, I am ashamed. I’m ashamed that they say, ‘Not yet. Maybe next week.’ …How many more have to die?’ she said.

She also attacked Biden for his embrace of Israel after the attacks.

“President Biden, not all Americans agree with you on this and you need to understand that. We are literally watching people commit genocide and kill the vast majority in this way, and we still stand by and say nothing. We will remember this,” she warned.

In her statement the day after the October 7 attack, she said she mourned the lives lost on both sides, then called for “the lifting of the blockade, an end to the occupation and the dismantling of the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, inhumane conditions that can lead to resistance. ‘

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has called on the U.S. government to withdraw its support for the Jewish state, calling Israel’s response immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks “collective punishment” and a “war crime.”