EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Nine Democratic members of the House of Representatives, including a congresswoman who represents El Paso, have sent a letter to President Joe Biden, calling for “an urgent ceasefire” in Gaza.
Separately, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico, issued a statement Thursday urging stepped-up diplomatic action and a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“The Hamas assault of Oct. 7 was a brutal act of terror and a heinous breach of international law,” says the letter signed by Texas Democratic U.S. Reps. Veronica Escobar, Lloyd Doggett and Al Green, along with six other House members. “Yet, Israel’s unfolding military operations in Gaza have left no safe space for civilians in the most densely populated territory on Earth. Its total siege has cut off communications, electricity, water, food medicine and fuel to Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants, half of whom are children.
“We believe that the price for defeating Hamas cannot be the ongoing suffering of all Palestinian civilians. […] A renewed humanitarian ceasefire is needed now.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, listens as Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Florida, speaks during a news conference on immigration outside the U.S. Capitol Building on May 23, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Twenty members of the Canadian Parliament and 20 from the German Bundestag sent a similar letter to their heads of state on Thursday, according to Escobar’s office.
Stansbury, meantime, said she was speaking out of a commitment to justice and human rights.
“The unspeakable atrocities committed by Hamas, including the killing of Israeli families, kidnapping of 240 hostages and horrific acts of violence committed against women have left scars that will be carried for generations,” Stansbury said in a statement. “However, the devastating civilian death toll in Gaza […] requires urgent action.”
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., participates in the Pro-Choice Caucus and Democratic Women’s Caucus news conference outside the Capitol on protecting access to abortion medication on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
She called for diplomatic action to end violence, prevent further escalation of military engagements, send aid to the region and ensure a “viable long-term path to peace.”
The calls for ceasefire come as some experts say the Democratic Party is struggling with diverging opinions on the conflict and recent surveys point to Democrats under 35 years old sympathizing more with the Palestinians in Gaza than with the Israelis.
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