AOC leads Democrats urging Biden to call for ceasefire in Gaza
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In the letter, the lawmakers express "deep concern" about the war, particularly the "grave violations against children."
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a news conference in Washington on November 13, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. (AFP)
Twenty-four Democratic members of Congress have asked Joe Biden to address "grave violations of children's rights" in Gaza by calling for an urgent ceasefire.
In a letter seen by The Guardian, lawmakers headed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, and Betty McCollum of Minnesota assert that at least 4,500 children have been murdered and at least 1,700 have gone missing as a result of "Israel's" ruthless onslaught.
In the letter, the lawmakers express "deep concern" about the war, particularly the "grave violations against children," adding that without a ceasefire, the US risks being dragged into numerous conflicts across the region, as well as a further loss of civilian life.
The letter added that clarity is needed regarding the "objectives for achieving de-escalation and stability in the region.”
Congresspeople who have signed it include Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Joaquin Castro, Pramila Jayapal, Barbara Lee, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib, in addition to Raul Grijalva and Mary Gay Scanlon, who had not previously advocated for a ceasefire.
The issue has also split Democrats in Washington, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries participated in a "March for Israel" on the National Mall on Tuesday.
The letter emphasizes the 4,500 children children that have died over the last 30 months, while over 51 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces.
The letter urges an immediate end of hostilities to provide relief to Palestinians, meanwhile stating that the administration "has serious concerns regarding the objectives and consequences of a large-scale ground offensive, and we urge you to press this case directly.”
MoveOn, Amnesty International, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Churches for Middle East Peace, Oxfam America, the Working Families Party, the Institute for Policy Studies' New Internationalism Project, and Jewish Voice for Peace Action have all endorsed the letter.
Over 400 US officials sign letter against Biden's 'Israel' policy
In a letter to President Biden on Tuesday, more than 400 political appointees and employees from over 40 government departments expressed their disapproval of his blind support for "Israel" and its war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
The letter urges Biden to push for a ceasefire and pressure "Israel" to allow humanitarian aid and is part of a larger campaign of dissatisfaction with Biden's support for the occupation.
Previously, an open letter was signed by over a thousand employees of the US Agency for International Development, in addition to three internal memos addressed to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, signed by numerous State Department employees.
This comes as the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a complaint in federal court in California, on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals, aiming to sue US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for failing their legal obligations to prevent a developing genocide committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip.
US attempts to evade blame for Israeli raid on Al-Shifa Hospital
The White House has attempted to evade responsibility for "Israel's" raid of Al-Shifa Hospital after it claimed evidence of Hamas running operations out of the hospital.
John Kirby claimed the US did not "green light" the operation in any way, adding that such decisions were exclusively Israeli ones.
Hamas has held the President of the United States Joe Biden responsible for the raid. In response, Kirby told reporters, "We did not give an OK to their military operations around the hospital."
Further exposing Israeli lies, the Hamas movement confirmed that the Israeli occupation’s claim that there are weapons in Al-Shifa Hospital is merely part “of the blatant lies and cheap propaganda, through which it tries to justify its crime with the aim of destroying the health sector in Gaza.”
This comes as Israeli occupation forces converted Al-Shifa Hospital into a military barracks, handcuffing a large number of its attending doctors and indiscriminately opening fire throughout the health facility as they storm patient wards without constraints, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported on Wednesday.
