Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie has called for the United States to stop funding Israel, as it targets civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.
Massie posted a video on X Wednesday that showed an Israeli missile strike leveling an apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon.
“If Israel insists on destroying civilian targets in Lebanon, let them buy and build their own weapons. American taxpayers should not be funding this,” the Republican lawmaker wrote.
The U.S. has spent at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since it began its catastrophic military campaign in Gaza after the massacre on October 7.
Massie, a far-right Republican, has been outspoken against America’s unwavering support of Israel’s unchecked military activity in the Middle East, challenging the notion that opposing to pro-Israel policies is a position held solely by those on the far left.
Massie boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July, calling it a “war rally.” He openly criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attack ads trying to unseat him. He also voted against censuring Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib over her comments criticizing Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Israel carried out a series of air strikes Sunday that targeted branches of the Al Qard Al Hassan association, a financial association that Israel claims is helping Hezbollah fund its activities, according to the BBC. The strikes against nonmilitary targets hit civilian areas in Beirut, as well as south and east Lebanon.
Israel has killed at least 1,800 people in Lebanon in the past five weeks, since expanding military operations there.
In the year since launching its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 41,000 people and injured more than 96,700, according to ABC News. This week, the Israeli government began a campaign to empty out (ethnically cleanse) northern Gaza, reportedly cutting off supplies and targeting homes, shelters, schools, and hospitals with airstrikes, displacing thousands of civilians.
