Democrats in the United States Senate have raised questions about the US military’s potential role in establishing vast “evacuation zones” in Lebanon, Gaza and Iran.In a letter addressed to Brad Cooper, head of the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), 12 legislators said mass displacement orders “likely contravene international laws the United States has helped develop around humane warfare”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe letter – sent on Monday and made public on Thursday – largely focused on Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, where the Israeli military is systematically turning border towns that it has depopulated into rubble.“The declaration of military evacuation zones has been used to permanently displace people and destroy homes and towns – acts that are in violation of international law,” the legislators wrote.“Furthermore, no declaration of evacuation zones or ‘kill zones’ absolves Israeli and US forces from the absolute legal responsibility to determine that each individual person or civilian facility targeted by drones, jets, and gunfire is, in fact, a military target.”Signatories to the letter include prominent progressives such as Peter Welch, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen.Chris Coons, a centrist and staunch Israel supporter, also signed.The Senate push underscores the growing international criticism over Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, including in the US, where the country once enjoyed unquestioning bipartisan support.Throughout its genocidal war on Gaza, Israel used displacement orders to depopulate large areas of the territory, and then blew up nearly every structure in the evacuated area. Advertisement Critics have said the tactic amounts to ethnic cleansing.Israeli officials have publicly admitted that they aim to re- …
