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Senate Democrats Demand Biden Stop Arming Israel, While Fetterman Calls for Continued Aid ‘Without Conditions’
US Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) gives an interview in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 18, 2024. Photo: Rod Lamkey / CNP/Sipa USA for NY Post via Reuters Connect
A group of eight liberal and progressive US senators demanded US President Joe Biden stop military assistance to Israel in a letter sent to the White House on Monday, claiming the Israeli government has violated federal law by blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian access, both at the border and within Gaza, are one of the primary causes of this humanitarian catastrophe,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), along with seven Democratic colleagues, wrote in the letter. “The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history.”
Aside from Sanders, the letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen (MD), Jeff Merkley OR), Mazie Hirono (HI), Peter Welch (VT), Tina Smith (MN), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Ben Ray Luján (NM).
Citing the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act — which reads “No assistance shall be furnished under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance” — the senators went on to claim that the US should not give any more assistance to Israel.
Between Oct. 21 and Feb. 1, about 95 aid trucks containing food, water, and medical supplies entered Gaza from both Israel and Egypt each day, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Still, the senators concluded that the US “should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with US humanitarian assistance.”
The letter came amid rising Democratic pressure on the Biden administration to distance itself from Israel as it fights to remove the Hamas terror group from power in Gaza and rescue the 134 hostages remaining in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas launched the ongoing war with its Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, where Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others.
A recent letter from Democratic members of the US House of Representatives argued an Israeli invasion of Rafah — Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza — “should not be supported by US taxpayer-funded assistance” if it “runs counter to the specific principles outlined” by the Biden administration on necessary conditions to give aid — a situation they considered “likely.”
A number of senators, including Biden allies, concurred, signaling a major shift within the party against Israel.
Meanwhile, a coalition of progressive groups is now reportedly pushing Democratic lawmakers to reject money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, in the upcoming election cycle. The coalition includes the Justice Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Not all Democrats are moving in this direction, though. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), upon hearing that Biden may condition aid to Israel, wrote that “Israel has the right to fully engage Hamas to its end. Hamas deliberately harms and hides behind civilians, not Israel. Until Hamas surrenders, frees the hostages, and ends this humanitarian tragedy, I do not support any conditions.”
Fetterman has taken significant blowback for his pro-Israel stance since Oct. 7. After making clear that he does not support conditioning aid, former congressional candidate Nina Turner asked, “Why are you going against the president and helping Trump?” A prominent progressive commentator called him a “f—king idiot.”
However, none of the attacks from people Fetterman used to consider progressive allies have caused him to change his stance. After being protested numerous times, he said, “There’s only one clear right side and that’s with Israel.”
The post Senate Democrats Demand Biden Stop Arming Israel, While Fetterman Calls for Continued Aid ‘Without Conditions’ 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.