WASHINGTON (CN) — House Democrats on Thursday renewed calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, telling President Biden that the White House should do everything it can to put a temporary hold on Israel’s military campaign in the region.
“As negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue, we urge you to exhaust every effort to facilitate a mutual, temporary cease-fire agreement between them,” wrote the lawmakers, led by New York Representative Dan Goldman and Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, in a letter to the president.
Such an agreement, they said, should provide for the immediate return of more than 130 hostages — including six Americans — who have been held by Hamas since the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The lawmakers cited reports that at least 32 of the remaining hostages have since died in captivity.
“Every day that the remaining living hostages are left to suffer in the tunnels in Gaza without medical attention increases the chances that more will die,” the lawmakers said. “The hostages and their families simply cannot wait any longer.”
The group of Democrats also implored President Biden to address “tremendous civilian suffering” among civilians in the Palestinian enclave. Tens of thousands of Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes since October and more than a million have been displaced.
The situation for Palestinian civilians is “dire and desperate,” the lawmakers said, pointing out that Gazans are faced with widespread hunger, homelessness and the spread of disease.
Palestinians “cannot wait any longer for access to additional humanitarian aid,” they told the White House.
The Democrats encouraged the administration to redouble its efforts at what they called a “critical juncture” to lock down a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that would secure the release of the hostages while also “enabling a massive surge in humanitarian aid” for Palestinian civilians.
“After that occurs, we can turn our focus forward to working with you and our allies to promote enduring peace in the Middle East through the neutralization of Hamas and the creation of a long sought-after two-state solution,” the lawmakers said.
President Biden has faced repeated calls to take the lead on a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, with Democrats urging the White House as far back as November to convince Israel to halt its devastating campaign.
But this latest pressure takes on a particular urgency as Israeli forces on Thursday began bombing the city of Rafah in Gaza’s southern reaches. Jerusalem has for weeks threatened to initiate a ground invasion of the city, which they have framed as an effort to flush out Hamas militants.
However, an assault on Rafah puts more than 1.4 million Palestinian refugees in the crosshairs — the city, pressed up against Gaza’s border with Egypt, has become a safe haven of last resort for civilians displaced by Israeli strikes across the enclave.
As the death toll in Gaza continues to climb, U.S. diplomats including Brett McGurk, the White House’s Middle East lead, have met with both Israeli and Hamas officials in attempts to negotiate a cease-fire. While Israel has signaled that there has been some progress towards an agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resolved not to stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
Hamas, which has been the de facto governing body of Gaza since 2006 and was recently redesignated by the U.S. as a terrorist group, attacked Israeli settlements along the enclave’s border Oct. 7. The assault killed more than 1,000 people, including many civilians.
The organization has framed the invasion as a response to the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza and its settlement of Palestinian territory — but Israel, the U.S. and many in the international community have decried the events of Oct. 7 as a terrorist attack.
The resulting Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 30,000 people and damaged or destroyed roughly 70% of homes. Jerusalem has faced criticism for its handling of civilians, including from South Africa, which told the United Nations’ International Court of Justice last week that Israel has faced little to no international accountability for violence against Palestinians.
South Africa has also accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.
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