US senator demands urgent ceasefire in Gaza, criticizes Washington's stance after Rubio-Netanyahu meeting
'Israel has an obligation to get aid in. America should be doing everything it can to get aid in and actually work for a diplomatic resolution,' says Welch
WASHINGTON
US Sen. Peter Welch on Thursday voiced concern about the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, criticizing the American diplomatic posture after a meeting between the top US diplomat and Israeli premier.
"The suffering in Gaza just keeps getting worse," Welch said in a video posted on the US social media platform, X.
"We just saw Secretary (Marco) Rubio with (Benjamin) Netanyahu in Israel, and Secretary Rubio says he doesn't see the likelihood of a diplomatic resolution. It really means green light for Netanyahu to continue his plan for military action in Gaza City."
His comments came amid the Israeli army’s expanded offensive in Gaza City, though witnesses said no full-scale incursion had taken place. Instead, Israel has intensified shelling, airstrikes and home demolitions using booby-trapped robots, in what Palestinians describe as part of a campaign of mass displacement.
"And they're already bombing some of the very few tall buildings standing. Palestinians in Gaza, who have no control over this, are being told they must leave or being in the line of fire. And folks there don't know which is better to do, which is worse. Do they take, uproot their families, where they've got some safety for a moment, for the sixth or seventh time? Or do they stay there and be in the crossfire?" Welch said.
"This has to end."
Welch demanded an immediate ceasefire to the "preventable" situation and the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid to a starving population.
"Israel has an obligation to get aid in. America should be doing everything it can to get aid in and actually work for a diplomatic resolution," Welch stressed.
The Israeli army has killed more than 65,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
