The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the Israeli government’s escalating slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 22 children, as a “transparent attempt to sabotage” the Trump administration’s recent push to restart ceasefire negotiations and pursue an end to other regional conflicts.
CAIR called on President Trump to “stand up to Netanyahu’s sabotage” of his renewed efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire after the Israeli government rapidly escalated its massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, using American weapons.
Israeli airstrikes over the past day in Gaza murdered at least 84 people, including almost two dozen children. The Israeli government has also bombed multiple hospitals in recent days, all after the release of an Israeli-American soldier negotiated by the Trump administration and efforts to restart broader ceasefire negotiations.
Israel has slaughtered more than 52,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.
In a statement, CAIRNational Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“As President Trump visits the Middle East and calls for peace, Benjamin Netanyahu is desperately trying to thwart and undermine him.
“Just days after Steve Witkoff and other members of the Trump administration made progress toward restarting ceasefire negotiations, Israel killed 84 Palestinians, including at least 22 children, in a transparent attempt to sabotage those efforts. Netanyahu is also openly insisting that his government will not permanently stop the genocide or cancel plans to permanently reoccupy Gaza, knowing these comments will undermine ceasefire efforts.
“President Trump must stand up to Benjamin Netanyahu’s sabotage before this corrupt, self-serving war criminal murders more children using American weapons and triggers more regional conflict.“
Yesterday, CAIR condemned the latest Israeli deadly bombings of Gaza hospitals as indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu says half of Gazans will be ethnically cleansed and there is “no way” Israel will halt its genocide in Gaza, even if a ceasefire is achieved.
Earlier this week, CAIR called on the Trump administration to drop U.S.-Israeli efforts to force starving Palestinians in Gaza into de facto concentration camps surrounded by the Israeli military in order to receive food and other humanitarian aid after the release of a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) stating that Gaza’s entire population is at imminent risk of famine.
CAIR also condemned the “systematic abuse and torture” that Gaza detainees face in Israeli prisons as outlined in a report released today. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) report says that abuse is “an integral component of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.”
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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