Ilhan Omar introduces resolutions against US weapons to Gulf over regional war fears

US Representative Ilhan Omar has introduced two bills to prevent weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE amid fears of a wider regional conflict over Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.

The resolutions, which were introduced on Thursday, could block the sale of $582 million in arms to Saudi Arabia and $85 million to the UAE, according to a statement from the Minnesota congresswoman's office.

Tensions have increased following Israel's assassination of a Hamas deputy in Beirut this week, its ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed around 23,000 people, and a US strike on a Tehran-linked militia base in Iraq.

"It is simply unconscionable to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia while they continue to kill and torture dissidents and support modern-day slavery," Omar said in her public statement.

"Saudi Arabia executed over 170 people in the last year alone—including executions just for Twitter posts. The United Arab Emirates have been violating the UN arms embargo in Darfur to support the RSF, which the State Department recently determined is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have also been arming the Ethiopian government, which has been accused of atrocities in Tigray, Amhara, and Oromia," she continued.

Omar's resolutions are consistent with her longtime outspokenness on weapons sales to countries with problematic human rights records. Though the texts do not mention the escalating regional tensions, the two separate resolutions come at a time of growing concern over Israel's war in Gaza turning into a wider regional conflict.

In the last week, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have increased their attacks on shipments in the Red Sea, reportedly in response to the war in Gaza. The US launched helicopters from aircraft carriers to repel the attacks on cargo ships.

"The threat for a greater regional conflict emerging out of the war in Gaza is very real," David Lesch, a history professor at Trinity University, told The New Arab. 

"So many wars in the Middle East in history developed even when none of the parties actually wanted war. In those cases, the parties to what eventually became a war thought they were carefully calibrating military responses to assuage domestic audiences yet not elicit a response from the opponent that would make war a reality. Sometimes this works, sometimes it does not."

As the war in Gaza continues, other parts of the Middle East are being closely watched.

Israel hit a Hamas office in southern Beirut on Tuesday, killing Saleh al-Arouri, with concerns of an escalation with Hezbollah which is viewed as a de-facto protector of Lebanon.

There have also been concerns about a US strike on Iran-linked militia in Baghdad on Thursday, which killed its commander Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi.

Both the Iran-linked Iraqi militia and Hezbollah have warned of consequences for these actions.