House Democrats are calling for a ceasefire to prevent further bloodshed in the Israel-Hamas War.
On Monday, 13 House Democrats introduced a resolution urging the Biden-Harris administration to call for a ceasefire in Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., told theGrio that President Joe Biden “should be leading in terms of a cease-fire and in terms of getting to a place of talking about a pathway forward.”
“The Hamas attack was horrific, horrible, and evil and needs to be responded to, and Israel has responded to that already,” he said. “But the response is continuing and the loss of life is already tremendously high and tremendously severe.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Israel-Hamas War has caused around 3,000 deaths and left more than 12,000 wounded in Gaza and at least 1,400 people have died in Israel.
It’s been 10 days since the war began, and some members of Congress are not satisfied with the Biden-Harris administration’s response.
After Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the U.S. supplied the Israeli military with weapons to ward off the Palestinian militant group. As a result of the war, many innocent civilians died, and millions of others were displaced.
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., one of the leaders on the resolution, told theGrio, “Our government enabling this violence and these blatant war crimes is a failure.”
“I am disturbed by our government’s willingness to immediately cave to calls for unconditional support and write a blank check for the Israeli military while blatantly ignoring the violence and dehumanization of Palestinian civilians,” she said.
“For decades, the U.S. government has touted a failed policy approach that does nothing to address the root causes of this violence,” Bush continued.
In an earlier interview with theGrio, Ahmed Benchemsi, Human Rights Watch communications director for the Middle East and North Africa, argued that the current conflict is a result of Israel committing apartheid against Palestinians.
“There are two sets of laws in Israel. One that applies to Israeli Jews and another one that applies to Palestinians,” said Benchemsi. “Depending on your ethnicity and your religion, you are governed by a different set of laws.”
He added, “Apartheid is a crime against humanity.”
Congresswoman Bush told theGrio, “We will never get closer to peace by failing to address the root of this issue.”
She continued, “We need to do what it takes to protect all lives and supplying even more weapons, and even U.S. troops will not and [do] not bring us there. It only encourages more violence. We cannot bomb our way to peace.”
Congressman Bowman said the call for a ceasefire is about “making sure we don’t over escalate what’s already happening there.”
He added, “It’s already been a tremendous loss of life, pain, suffering, and trauma, and now is the time to get to a place of ending the violence and negotiating the release of hostages and discussing a pathway forward to peace.”
President Biden is slated to travel to Israel on Wednesday to support Israel and to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. It is unclear whether he will demand a ceasefire.
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