US senators urge Trump administration to step in for Gaza humanitarian aid
Sen. Peter Welch, leading 29 Democrats, introduces resolution decrying two-month blockade on food and medicine in Gaza
WASHINGTON
US Senate Democrats introduced a resolution urging the Trump administration to use "all diplomatic tools" to stop an Israeli blockade and allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
"I’m offering a resolution with my colleagues that makes a simple point: it notes simply that children are starving to death. They’re starving to death as we are here comfortably debating what we think are important issues.
"And it must be the effort of all of us to do all we can to bring this siege and this war to an immediate end," Sen. Peter Welch, leading his 29 colleagues, told the Senate floor.
Welch said it has been over two months since the Israeli government has been using its power to withhold food and medicine into Gaza.
Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid, deepening an already worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
Welch said that four-month-old Jinan Iskafi died of starvation in Gaza earlier this month.
"Jinan's death was totally avoidable. It was totally preventable," he added.
More than 53,000 Palestinians, primarily women and children, have been killed in Gaza during Israel's military offensive since October 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
