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Ilhan Omar Warns ‘Genocide’ Could Continue in Gaza, Calls for ‘Arms Embargo’ on Israel Amid Ceasefire With Hamas

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks at a press conference with activists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, Dec. 14, 2023. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) expressed skepticism that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will hold during a newly released interview with anti-Israel pundit Marc Lamont Hill, cautioning that the so-called “genocide” in Gaza could resume due to Israeli misconduct.
“I think the biggest danger for Palestinians is to have this genocide continue, and so if we have a window for that to end, I think the Palestinians are resilient enough to withstand a lot of things,” Omar said on Hill’s podcast, “Office Hours.”
The congresswoman added she was “surprised” that the Biden administration did not initially pressure Israel to implement a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, claiming that the United States “subsidizes” the Jewish state. Moreover, she expressed astonishment at reports that Trump administration officials pushed their Israeli counterparts into brokering a ceasefire with Hamas. However, Omar claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might undermine the ceasefire in Gaza, causing the war to resume.
Last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to a three-phase deal that halts fighting in Gaza, and if fully implemented, would stop the war entirely. Under the first phase, Hamas is set to release 33 hostages — women, children, and elderly men — over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, who were largely detained for involvement in terrorist activity. Top officials in the new Trump administration have said in recent weeks that the US will support Israel renewing military operations in Gaza if Hamas launches more attacks against the Jewish state and violates the agreement.
The ceasefire began on Sunday, when Hamas released three female Israeli civilian hostages.
Despite indicating cautious optimism about the ceasefire deal, Omar, one of the most strident critics of Israel in the US Congress, warned that the Trump administration could still worsen the plight of the Palestinians over the next four years.
“I do believe there is an incredible danger, and the possibility of having the West Bank annexed. There is a possibility of having UNWRA not getting funding from the United States. There is an incredible danger and possibility for there not to be humanitarian aid just in general to the Palestinians,” Omar said.
Some members of the Trump administration — including Mike Huckabee, who is US President Donald Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel — have publicly professed their belief that the West Bank belongs to the Jewish state. In addition, Huckabee has said that he will officially refer to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria” — terminology preferred by Israel.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals. One expected target of Trump’s that has received US finding is UNRWA, the controversial United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israel has also said that UNRWA has been deeply infiltrated by Hamas in Gaza, accusing some of its staff of taking part in the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. The Israeli government and research organizations have publicized findings showing numerous UNRWA-employed staff, including teachers and school principals, are active Hamas members who were directly involved in the attack, while many others openly celebrated it.
In contrast to Biden, Omar argued that Trump “understands the amount of leverage we have as a superpower, as a country that does hold the resources that Israel needs in order to continue the war.” She added that Biden administration officials, such as former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, allowed themselves to be “embarrassed” by Netanyahu, claiming that the Israeli premier rebuffed their requests for a ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and the terrorist organization.
US officials who tried to broker a ceasefire in Gaza for months have repeatedly claimed that Hamas was the chief obstacle to reaching an agreement.
In her interview, Omar urged the Trump administration to apply additional pressure to Israel, suggesting that the White House block arms shipments to the Jewish state.
“I mean, we obviously are supplying them with the weapons that they are utilizing, and, s,o we can institute an arms embargo, we can certainly make sure that we have a clear red line that is communicated to them,” Omar said.
The Trump administration has not publicly indicated any support for an arms embargo on Israel. According to reporting by Axios, Israeli Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog expects the White House to lift the Biden administration’s restriction on shipments of 2,000-pound bombs. In May 2024, the Biden administration blocked the delivery of such bombs to the Jewish state, citing fear of excessive civilian casualties in densely-populated areas of Gaza. Experts have argued that such bombs are necessary to reach Gaza’s underground tunnel network, which it has used to hide hostages and plan terrorist attacks.
“We believe that Trump is going to release, at the beginning of his term, the munitions that haven’t been released until now by the Biden administration,” Herzog told Axios.
Since being elected to Congress in 2018, Omar has established herself as a harsh critic of Israel. She has accused the Jewish state of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and erecting an”“apartheid” government in the West Bank. The lawmaker has also publicly declared support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS), which seeks to turn the Jewish state into an international pariah as a first step toward its eventual destruction.
Omar was among the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, falsely arguing that the Jewish state’s military operations “indiscriminately” killed Palestinian civilians.
The post Ilhan Omar Warns ‘Genocide’ Could Continue in Gaza, Calls for ‘Arms Embargo’ on Israel Amid Ceasefire With Hamas 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.