The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said that President Biden must take action following comments by USAID Chief Samantha Powell agreeing with the UN’s assessment that a famine is imminent in Gaza and reports of massacres committed by Israeli forces at the Al-Shifa Hospital.
USAID Chief Samantha Powell said she agreed with a UN-backed assessment of famine in Gaza, making her the first US official to acknowledge the scale of hunger in the strip. The White House said that famine was “imminent,” but did not go as far as saying it was taking place currently.
SEE: U.S. aid official says famine has begun in northern Gaza
Eyewitnesses to the Israeli raid on Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital have described massacres of unarmed civilians being committed by Israeli forces. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the massacre at al-Shifa was one of the largest in Palestinian history, estimating that at least 1,500 people had been killed, injured, or reported missing, “with women and children making up half of the casualties.” The organization also confirms that at least 22 patients were shot in their hospital beds, while the number of displaced persons sheltering at the hospital who were forced to evacuate southward was estimated to include 25,000 people. Moreover, 1,200 housing units in the vicinity of al-Shifa were destroyed.
SEE: ‘Come out, you animals’: how the massacre at al-Shifa Hospital happened
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“The recently discovered and ongoing war crimes committed by the far-right genocidal Israeli government are nothing short of barbaric. Inducing a famine by besieging an entire population and slaughtering innocent civilians are acts which no one can ignore, let alone justify. President Biden and his administration are enabling this famine and the deliberate cruelty targeting the Palestinian people in Gaza. He must take action to prevent further atrocities by demanding an immediate ceasefire, securing full access to humanitarian aid, ending all weapons transfers and other funding for Israel, and holding the war criminals in the Netanyahu government accountable for their genocidal actions.”
Awad also condemned the killing of 25 people in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza City.
He noted that Democrats, Republicans and independents have all become less supportive of Israel’s operation in Gaza than they were in December. Then, a narrow majority approved of Israeli conduct. The latest figures show that a majority, 55%, disapprove of Israel’s actions, while 36% approve.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com