US Congressman Dennis Kucinich lashes out at Washington's arm support for Tel Aviv and Israel's violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

Kucinich in a statement on Wednesday lambasted Israel's disproportionate use of force against defenseless people of Gaza with US weapons, paid for by American taxpayers.

The disproportionate and collective punishment nature of the attacks on Gaza assure an escalation of conflict in violation of the AECA, the Ohio senator said.

In a letter to the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday Kucinich informed the US administration of a violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) of 1976. The breach, under AECA law, should result in a Presidential report on the violation.

According to the AECA any defense articles sold or leased by the United States must not be used to escalate conflict.

"We can not truly celebrate a New Year, a new Congress and a new administration if all we see is the same old destruction in the Middle East with US weapons being illegally used to kill children," Kucinich said in his statement.

"I oppose Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel. The rocket attacks, even to try to end the blockade, have no moral justification, are illegal and must stop," the statement added.

"But how can Israel claim self defense when it bombs Gaza which has no army, no air force, no navy and has been under a constant blockade? How can Israel claim self defense when its bombs destroy UN schools, killing children? "

The Democrat senator criticized the US administration for its silence on Israel's use of American weapons against people of Gaza which he said was in an apparent violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

"Israel was given US weapons on condition they would not be used for aggression or escalation. The outgoing Administration must finally stand for the rule of law, not the rule of force. "

"The children of Palestinians and the children of Israel both deserve life. But the lives of the children of Gaza are cynically discounted as 'human shields'," Kucinich added.

The Gaza Strip is faced with a serious humanitarian crisis since it came under massive Israeli fire beginning on December 27. Tel Aviv had claimed that its offensive is aimed at halting Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel.

However, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later unveiled that the main objective of the assault was to topple the democratically-elected Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

Over 710 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,100 others have been wounded in nearly two-week long Israeli aggression on the coastal enclave.

Gaza residents are suffering from a shortage of fuel, medicine, food and water and the Israeli Army has been preventing Red Cross aid convoys from entering the populated region. Hospitals are also running out of fuel required for the operation of generators that provide power supply to health facilities.

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