40+ Senators co-sponsor Welch’s resolution calling for an immediate end to the blockade of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today joined Leila Fadel on National Public Radio’s (NPR) Morning Edition to discuss the starvation crisis in Gaza and his new Senate Resolution demanding the Trump Administration uses all diplomatic tools at its disposal to bring an end to the blockade of food and lifesaving humanitarian aid.

“It is absolutely appalling what is happening to innocent Palestinians in Gaza. There are 14,000 babies, according to the U.N., that could die in the next 48 hours if aid is not getting in. Children are now literally dying of starvation while being held by their mother or their father. And the 72 days of blockade by the Netanyahu government—of no food, no water, no medicine—is catastrophic. And the famine that people are experiencing is also catastrophic, and it’s a very brutal process and a terrifying way to die. And Israel, as having control over Gaza, has an obligation internationally, to get food and medicine in to the people that need it.”

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“This is not about practical and political reason—this is about people who are starving, needing food and needing water. And the notion that the Netanyahu government can use starvation—withholding food and water, withholding medicine—as a tool of the military campaign, violates international law. It’s completely wrong. We should condemn it, just as I condemn Hamas for what it’s done.  Starvation is not a legitimate tool of warfare.”

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“I want aid to flow. It’s really very, very simple…The United States has a role to play here, and Congress has a role to play. The idea that we’re accepting this, we’re turning our head the other way as if this is not happening, is wrong.”

Listen here:

Last week, Senator Welch led his Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution calling on the Trump Administration to use all diplomatic tools at its disposal to bring an end to the blockade of food and lifesaving humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza. In their resolution, the Senators express grave concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the imminent starvation of tens of thousands of children. The resolution now has the support of more than 40 Senators.

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