Biden Gets Scorched - by Republicans and Democrats - for Refusing to Sanction Hamas

The Biden administration is coming under well-deserved scrutiny for refusing to levy sanctions against Hamas for using civilians as human shields in its war against Israel. The terrorist group has used this tactic for decades. But in this current conflict, it has also been criticized for deliberately putting the lives of Palestinian civilians in danger.

Still, President Joe Biden, despite expressing support for Israel after the war started on October 7 when Hamas launched its initial surprise attack, doesn’t seem too keen on the idea of sanctioning the terrorist organization.

The Biden administration is not enforcing U.S. sanctions on Hamas’s use of human shields, drawing bipartisan concerns in Congress as the Iran-backed terror group uses civilians to shield itself from Israeli military attacks.

As Israel’s war on Hamas enters its second month, it has become increasingly clear the terror group is placing civilians in harm’s way in order to maximize casualties, in violation of a U.S. law barring the use of human shields.

"There still have been no sanctions imposed pursuant to this law" by the Biden administration, according to a bipartisan group of 22 congressmen. The group urges the administration to "prioritize the swift imposition and enforcement of all appropriate sanctions" on Hamas for its ongoing use of human shields in a letter sent to the State and Treasury Departments on Wednesday and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Several lawmakers, led by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and Brad Sherman (D-CA), have expressed concerns about Biden’s lack of action in this area. They are calling on the administration to impose and enforce sanctions on the terrorist group for endangering Palestinian civilians, which is required under the 2018 Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act. The law mandates that the president compile an annual list of individuals, organizations, or other entities who use human shields, then sanction them.

Further in the letter, the lawmakers noted that “while the U.S. government has taken measures to combat Hamas and Hezbollah in recent years, it has yet to sanction Hamas and Hezbollah leaders for their use of human shields.”

The lawmakers also argued that sanctioning Hamas officials “would send a message to officials of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, the Islamic State, Russia, and other prolific users of human shields that there is now a price to be paid for engaging in this horrific war crime.”

Interestingly enough, the United States and Israel have been pressuring the European Union to impose new sanctions on Hamas. However, the E.U.’s response has been inconsistent, with some diplomats pointing out that unanimous backing for new sanctions is tricky because of the sensitive nature of the Israel-Hamas war and the supposed lack of evidence against individual Hamas leaders.

At this point, it doesn’t make sense for the Biden administration to remain hesitant about taking action against Hamas. In other cases, people have argued against sanctions on authoritarian regimes like North Korea, Venezuela, and others because it would only harm the people being oppressed by these governments. However, in Hamas’ case, they already prevent Palestinian civilians from getting the resources they need; sanctions would have a limited impact on them.

It might not be clear exactly how painful sanctions would be for Hamas and its leaders. But if we want this war to end, applying as much pressure as possible might be the right course of action.