Biden urged to 'reverse course' on Gaza by 80 Muslim American groups

Eighty Muslim, Palestinian and allied groups have sent a letter to US President Joe Biden to object to his decisions to transfer additional weapons to Israel and "falsely" certify that the Israeli government's brutal war on besieged Gaza complies with US law.

"Your administration is publicly discouraging Israel from launching a full-scale invasion of Rafah unless there is a plan to somehow protect civilians, but that caveat is essentially a green light for Israel to ethnically cleanse Rafah and then reduce the city to rubble like it has done elsewhere," the organisations wrote in the letter on Wednesday.

The Biden administration refuses to take "any concrete action" to force Israel to stop starving and bombing the civilian population, it said.

"The decisions to flout US law by falsely certifying Israel's compliance and ship more weapons to the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government represent the latest examples of this pattern."

"The American people do not want a change in rhetoric. The American people want a concrete change in policy," it added.

The letter came one day after the White House was forced to scale back plans for a Ramadan iftar after Muslim American leaders declined to attend.

Dozens of Muslim American community members and their allies braved rain, wind and frigid temperatures on Tuesday to stage a fast-breaking protest outside the White House and demand the president call for an immediate permanent ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in the besieged Gaza.

'We urge you to listen to voices of reason'

The groups urged Biden in the letter to recognise that Israel's actions in Gaza violate US law and to suspend the transfer of all weapons to Israel.

They also asked Biden to use American leverage to secure an "immediate, permanent" ceasefire, the "unimpeded" opening of all land crossings for humanitarian aid, the release of all captives and political prisoners, and to pursue a "just and lasting peace through an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid policies."

"We urge you to listen to voices of reason and morality inside and outside of the administration."

"Risking your presidential legacy and the reputation of our nation around the world to enable the Netanyahu government's genocide has been a disastrous decision. We implore you to reverse course before thousands more die," they added.

Following Hamaz blitz on October 7 last year, Israel has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians and wounded 75,300 so far in the blockaded enclave amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to do more to prevent starvation crisis in Gaza. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recently there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Albanese also addressed allegations that Hamas fighters used rape during their attack on Israel, saying there was an absence of convincing evidence to support the claims.

"What I am very disturbed by was the weaponisation of anything that happened on 7 of October," she said. "Personally, I have not received information. I have read reports that had been written, and I didn't find any convincing evidence."