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Dear Friends,
Yesterday’s New York Times had a front-page photo of an emaciated baby boy in Gaza who is being starved to death. His mother cradles him helplessly. The headline reads, “Young, Old and Sick Starve to Death in Gaza: “There is Nothing”.
A second story in the same newspaper is more shocking. It quotes an Israeli cabinet member saying his government was “rushing toward Gaza being wiped out” and “there is no nation that feeds its enemies.” This extremist member of the Israeli cabinet believes a million children in Gaza are the enemy and deserve to be starved to death.
I condemned Hamas for the terror, murder, and hate they inflict on innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023. Today, I condemn the Netanyahu government for Israel’s use of starvation, disease, forced displacement, along with bombs, bullets, and drones, to indiscriminately kill Palestinian children, parents, and grandparents. I condemn the Netanyahu government for targeting and killing thousands of innocent Palestinians as they seek refuge in camps, in hospitals, in schools, and as they search for food for their starving families. It is illegal, immoral, and intentional. It is genocide.
I reject and condemn the notion that Israel, with the most powerful military in the region, can only achieve its goal of defeating Hamas by denying the people of Gaza food, safe water, shelter, and medicine. A military strategy that kills innocent civilians and purposefully starves children is a crime against humanity, against mankind.
The path forward is clear. Israel must end the killing, withdraw military forces from Gaza, and allow unlimited food, medicine, and fuel into Gaza. Humanitarian teams from the international community must be allowed to enter Gaza to save lives and end suffering. Hamas must be held accountable to release all Israeli hostages and the bodies of their victims. Hamas must disarm. The U.S., Europe, and the Arab countries must use the vast diplomatic and humanitarian resources at our disposal to ensure Israel and Hamas end this war, ensure security for both Israelis and Palestinians, and end the suffering.
Israel’s security and the future of the U.S.-Israel alliance cannot withstand the horror and cruelty of starving Palestinian children to death to achieve a military advantage. It is vile and a disgrace. The Gaza war must end immediately and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children must be saved.
The world is shouting ENOUGH! We all must shout ENOUGH! This war must end, and innocent lives must be saved.
Betty McCollum
Member of Congress
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