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Nearly Half of Incoming US Senate Democratic Leadership Just Voted to Block Arms to Israel

US Sen. Elizabeth Warren walks following a Senate Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 28, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson
A near-majority of the Democratic Party’s incoming leadership in the US Senate recently voted in favor of a partial arms embargo on Israel, fueling concerns that America’s primary center-left political party is increasingly distancing itself from the Jewish state.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats announced their new 11-member leadership team for the 119th session of the US Congress, which will begin next month. Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) will continue to lead Democrats in the upper legislative chamber, but this time soon as the minority party. Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) elevated to the No. 3 spot as the chair of the Steering and Policy Committee and Sen. Cory Booker (NJ) moved to the No. 4 spot as chair of the Strategic Communications Committee.
Other members of the leadership team include: Sen. Mark Warner (VA) as co-vice chair of the conference, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (WI) as conference secretary, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) as vice chair of outreach.
The other five newly elected members of Democratic leadership, or 45 percent of the group, voted last month in support of each of three separate resolutions aimed at depriving Israel of weapons amid its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. The lawmakers are Sens. Dick Durbin (IL), party whip; Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), co-vice chair of the conference; Bernie Sanders (VT), an independent who caucuses with Democrats and will be chair of outreach; and Chris Murphy (CT) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), both deputy conference secretaries.
All five senators voted for measures to ban the sale of tank cartridges to Israel and target sales of mortar rounds and precision-guided bombs to the Jewish state.
Despite their votes, however, the Senate overwhelmingly smacked down all three measures, which were spearheaded by Sanders. A total of 19 senators — 17 Democrats and two independents — supported at least one of the three resolutions.
Durbin said that his reason for voting to suspend arms transfers to Israel was “straightforward,” arguing that although he supported Israel’s right to self-defense, too many women and children had died in the Gaza conflict and the Israel-Hamas war “must end.”
Warren wrote that the Biden administration’s alleged failure to “follow US law and to suspend arms shipments is a grave mistake that undermines American credibility worldwide.” She accused Israel of inflicting starvation on Gaza and ignoring American demands to accelerate the flow of aid into the war-torn enclave.
Sanders, a longtime critic of Israel, claimed that “there is no longer any doubt that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist government is in clear violation of US and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza.” Although Sanders noted that he believes Israel has a right to exist, he argued that the Jewish state has indiscriminately bombed the Palestinian civilian population.
Murphy wrote that he believes Israel has inflicted a significant degree of suffering on the Palestinian population and that “humanitarian conditions in Gaza have gotten worse, not better.”
Democrats in Congress have grown increasingly critical of Israel in the year following Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Although Democrats have repeatedly reiterated that Israel has a right to “defend itself,” many have raised concerns over the Jewish state’s conduct in the war in Gaza, reportedly exerting private pressure on US President Joe Biden to adopt a more adversarial stance against Israel and display more public sympathy for the Palestinians.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli military.
Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations, direct attacks, and store weapons.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in October that Israel had delivered over 1 million tons of aid, including 700,000 tons of food, to Gaza since it launched its military operation a year ago. He also noted that Hamas terrorists often hijack and steal aid shipments while fellow Palestinians suffer.
The Israeli government ramped up the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent weeks under pressure from the United States, which has expressed concern about the plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.
The post Nearly Half of Incoming US Senate Democratic Leadership Just Voted to Block Arms to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.