Washington: US media said on Sunday that three more US officials, including two military personnel, have resigned this week in opposition to Washington’s support of Israeli military operations in Gaza.
The US military’s involvement in the battle led to the announcements by Larry Hebert and Juan Bettancourt that they would not be continuing their service.
The event comes after US Department of State senior official and Israeli-Palestinian issues expert Andrew Miller resigned. Miller voiced his displeasure with the policy of the Biden administration in the midst of the eight-month-long Gaza conflict.
The murder of six-year-old Hind Rajab in February in Gaza from gunfire in her home country led Larry Hebert Jr., an active-duty US airman, to request that the US military grant him conscientious objector status.
According to certain officials, Israeli actions in the enclave qualify as “genocide.”
She resembles my daughter nearly exactly, which Hebert said made it difficult to accept that all of these kids have hopes and goals and lives that many of us lead and desire, and that it is completely wrong to support what is taking here. In an interview with NBC News, he said that he was a direct participant in a US effort to sell weapons to Israel.
The US government’s involvement in the battle, including its provision of weaponry, diplomatic backing, and intelligence, was also acknowledged by senior US Airman Juan Bettancourt, who said he could no longer ignore it after seeing footage of the death and destruction in Gaza.
Bettancourt told NBC News, “I see thousands of innocent civilians being slaughtered, all while the world watches through their smartphones.”
Hebert and Bettancourt both stated that the scope of the crimes made them reconsider their involvement in a military system they felt was maintaining the high death toll. They called Israel’s assault on Gaza “genocide” and said that many Americans, as well as themselves, were being deeply affected by the footage that was emerging from the area.
There are now about a dozen US officials quitting their jobs. Josh Paul, Harrison Mann, Annelle Sheline, Hala Rharrit, Lily Greenberg, Alex Smith, and Stacy Gilbert are a few among them. Their disagreement with US policies serves as a stark reminder of the growing discontent within the government.
When US Air Force member Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in a dramatic protest against the administration’s backing for Israel in February, the subject received international notice. Later on, Bushnell passed away in the hospital from his wounds.
The internal resistance inside the US government highlights the growing disagreement and debate surrounding America’s foreign policy in the region as the Gaza conflict rages on.
According to The Washington Post, Miller wasn’t a fan of President Joe Biden’s “bear hug” strategy for the Israeli government. According to CNN, he was a major contributor to the executive order that was released in February and levied punishment on a number of Israeli settlers for attacking Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank.
Prior to this, he worked for the Obama administration as the White House National Security Council’s director for military issues pertaining to Egypt and Israel and as a senior policy assistant to the US ambassador to the UN.
Major Harrison Mann announced his resignation from the US Defence Intelligence Agency in May, citing his nation’s “unqualified support” of Israel’s actions in Gaza as the reason behind it. November was his last month of employment.
Outside Israel’s embassy in Washington in February, Airman Bushnell set himself on fire in protest; he subsequently succumbed to his wounds.
The latest resignations and the wider criticism of the Biden administration’s backing of Israeli military actions have not yet received a response.
