ALBAWABA - Larry Hebert and Juan Bettancourt, U.S. Air Force members, have filed conscientious objector status because to their objection to the government's Gaza policy.
According to an exclusive NBC News story, these military are protesting US backing for Israel. After learning about Hind Receb, a 6-year-old Gaza child trapped and crying for her life in an Israeli-attacked truck, Hebert's attitude changed. Hebert, who called Hind his daughter, said, "We should not support what is happening."
Hebert also stated his role in a U.S. Air Force operation that gave Israel weaponry, complicating his position.
Bettancourt was also distressed by civilian casualties. "The world is witnessing the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians through their smartphones," stated.
Bettancourt's turning point was when fellow airman Aaron Bushnell self-immolated to protest the "genocide" in Gaza. Bettancourt said he couldn't serve in a force that violates international law.
Both men have called Israel's actions genocide and said they couldn't ignore U.S. backing, spurring their conscientious objector designation campaign. The Pentagon will evaluate their demands.
Gaza policy have prompted multiple high-level resignations in the Biden administration. Andrew Miller, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian relations, resigned over Biden's Gaza policy. This is Biden's highest-profile Gaza policy resignation.
The first State Department Office of Weapons Transfers chief to quit over these practices was Josh Paul in October 2023. He was succeeded by international affairs officer Annelle Sheline and Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration senior official Stacy Gilbert.
In May, Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the Department of the Interior Chief of Staff, and Major Harrison Mann, a Defense Intelligence Agency Major, resigned over the U.S.'s support for Israel's Gaza activities.
On February 24, 25-year-old Air Force member Aaron Bushnell lit himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Bushnell's statement, "I will no longer be complicit in the crime of genocide," showed U.S. military discontent.
