Four hundred government officials from 40 departments and agencies within US president Joe Biden’s administration signed a letter opposing his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and demanding a cease-fire.
We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter reads.
Joe Biden and other world leaders have pushed back on calls for a cease-fire in Gaza saying that it would only serve to benefit Hamas terrorists. Joe Biden’s administration has instead pushed for humanitarian pauses in the fighting, which Israel has agreed to.
This comes as the US announced a third round of sanctions on Hamas since last month’s attack on Israel. The new sanctions target the group’s Iranian backers, “key Hamas officials and the mechanisms by which Iran provides support to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” a statement from the US Treasury Department said.
On the new sanctions, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said, “Iran’s support, primarily through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, enables Hamas and PIJ’s terrorist activities, including through the transfer of funds and the provision of both weapons and operational training.”
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement, “The United States will continue to work with our partners, including the UK, to deny Hamas the ability to raise and use funds to carry out its atrocities.”
