'This Must Stop': Call Grows for US Lawmakers to Pass Lebanon War Powers Resolution

As Israel's deepening invasion of Lebanon threatens to derail peace talks between the US and Iran, American lawmakers are facing pressure to pass a war powers resolution to limit US involvement this week.In recent days, despite a ceasefire agreement in April, Israel has ordered the forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands more Lebanese civilians from their homes in the country's south, and declared all areas south of the Zahrani River a combat zone.In what Defense Minister Israel Katz has described as a continuation of its Gaza model, the Israel Defense Forces have systematically razed dozens of villages across southern Lebanon.US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who introduced the war powers resolution in April, said, This must stop.Our country should not be assisting or supporting indiscriminate bombings and forced displacement anywhere, including Lebanon, Tlaib said on social media Monday, responding to a report that the death toll had climbed above 3,400 since Israel launched its assault on Lebanon in March. We must pass the Lebanon war powers resolution this week. The brief resolution would require the US to end unauthorized military cooperation with Israel within seven days of being passed, which proponents said may also limit the ability of the US military to share intelligence and coordinate targets with Israel.Tlaib and other progressives like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) initially pushed for the resolution to be brought to a House vote during the week of May 18, but it was kicked until after lawmakers returned from recess.In the meantime, several cosponsors have signed onto the resolution, bringing the total up to 17. They include Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.War powers votes can be introduced by any member of Congress and do not need the support of the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (La.).A coalition of anti-war groups led by Just Foreign Policy organized a letter-writing campaign to tell members of Congress to support the resolution. The groups say supporters have sent nearly 24,000 letters to Congress so far.Israel's invasion of Lebanon has killed more than 3,000 people since March 2nd, displaced over 1.2 million—a fifth of the country's entire population—and caused over 14 billion in destruction. Hospitals bombed. Entire villages erased, they said. Rashida Tlaib’s resolution... is the only legislative tool that can force a vote and thus every member of Congress to take a position about this war on the record.Spokespeople for the Democrats on the House Foreign Relations Committee did not respond when asked by Common Dreams whether members planned on supporting Tlaib's resolution. Israel has been accused of ramping up its attacks on Lebanon as a means of sabotaging peace talks between the US and Iran. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, wrote on social media Monday that “the ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon.It was reported by Iran's Tasnim News Agency on Monday that Tehran was backing away from talks with President Donald Trump in response to Israel's escalation in Lebanon. The country's foreign ministry said the US “bears direct responsibility both for the violations of the ceasefire against Iran and for the violations committed by the Zionist regime against Lebanon.”However, after phone calls with a Hezbollah intermediary and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said on Truth Social that “talks were continuing at a rapid pace,” and “there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way have already been turned back.”Netanyahu responded to the reports by saying that he planned to launch more attacks against Lebanon's densely populated capital if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel, and that Israel would continue operating in southern Lebanon as planned.