The US Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a resolution today calling on President Joe Biden’s administration to present a report and debate on Israel’s bombing of Gaza, citing the heavy civilian toll.

Sanders, an independent senator who usually votes with Democrats, is seeking to provoke that debate by invoking a provision of the Foreign Assistance Act that bars military aid to governments that “engage in a continuing pattern of serious violations of the of internationally recognized human rights’ and allows the Congress to vote to request the drafting of a report on a country’s respect for human rights.

If the resolution requesting this information is approved, the State Department must submit its report within 30 days, otherwise all security assistance to that country will be cut off.

It is unclear how much support this resolution could garner, given that US lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have for years approved massive amounts of military aid to Israel with few restrictions.

Sanders’ resolution recognizes Israel’s right to respond to the October 7 attack by Hamas. But the senator laments the extent of the suffering in Gaza.

“This is a humanitarian disaster and it is being perpetrated with American bombs and money. We need to face this fact and then end our complicity in these actions,” he said in a statement.