Washington, DC: United States Senator Bernie Sanders has become the first elected senator to describe Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide. His declaration followed a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report that found Israel guilty of acts of genocide under international law.
Sanders pointed to the high death toll, widespread hunger, and public statements by Israeli leaders calling for Gaza’s destruction. “The intent is clear. The conclusion is inescapable. Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” he said.
He urged Washington to stop sending billions in aid and weapons to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. He called for an immediate ceasefire, a large UN-led humanitarian operation, and renewed efforts toward a Palestinian state.
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, has long opposed US arms transfers to Israel, but his use of the term “genocide” marks a major shift. Until now, only members of the House of Representatives had described Israel’s actions in Gaza in this way.
Representative Becca Balint, also from Vermont and Jewish, supported Sanders’s statement, saying the Israeli government was carrying out the systematic destruction of Palestinians.
The UN report concluded Israel was carrying out four of the five defined acts of genocide, including mass killings and creating conditions of life aimed at destroying Palestinians as a group. More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, and most of Gaza has been left in ruins. Israel has rejected the findings, calling them biased.
