The main international authority on hunger crises stated that the territory risks the worst-case scenario of famine, and images of malnourished children in Gaza are igniting fresh calls for a truce in the area.
In contrast to the 19 votes a similar motion received in November, Ossoff and Warnock were part of the 27 Senate Democrats who voted in favor of restricting firearm sales to Israel. About 24 Democrats supported the resolution pertaining to the selling of bombs.
The United States should not overlook the severe mass starvation and deprivation of children in Gaza due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies, according to Ossoff, Georgia’s first Jewish senator.
However, he claimed that because Israeli civilians rely on the sales of weaponry, he was against stopping them. In order to alleviate Gaza’s severe humanitarian and hunger situation, he also urged the United States to support a major injection of cash.
According to Warnock, the current situation in Gaza is a moral outrage.
“I have expressed my unwavering support for the state of Israel and its right to self-defense,” Warnock stated. Today, I call on the government of Israel, the United States, and the international community to act swiftly to provide the Gaza population with the same food and care that we would like for our own children.
U.S. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, contended that Hamas was responsible for the violence and the current state of affairs in Gaza. Both initiatives were voted down by every Republican senator.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced the resolutions, which were the third time since 2024 that he has compelled a Senate vote to stop Israeli arms sales. He has often cited the suffering of Palestinian civilians and condemned Netanyahu’s management of the conflict.
Some members of Georgia’s Jewish community strongly criticized Ossoff and Warnock’s votes in November in favor of the Sanders resolutions.
The repercussions was immediate and personal for Ossoff. His vote was condemned by Israel’s consul general in Atlanta and the rabbi of Ossoff’s hometown synagogue.The criticism was joined by dozens of Jewish institutions.
More than 100 Jewish Georgians were among those who signed a letter complimenting both Democrats for their support of peace, security, and stability in the region.
In his floor statement at the time, Ossoff cited Republican President Ronald Reagan’s 1982 decision to prevent the transfer of cluster-type artillery shells to Israel in order to save innocent lives as justification for his dissenting votes.
Sanders supported an attempt to stop $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel, but both Ossoff and Warnock voted against it in April. Ossoff voiced worries that the action would impede current talks to free dozens of prisoners that Hamas has taken hostage.
President Donald Trump was among those putting increasing international pressure on Israel at the time of Wednesday’s vote.
In response, Israel has announced food and other supply airdrops as well as daily humanitarian pauses in warfare in several areas of Gaza. However, Palestinians on the ground and the U.N. report that not much has changed and that delivery trucks are still being overrun by frantic crowds.
Hamas launched the conflict on October 7, 2023, when militants attacked southern Israel, killing almost 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 more. About 20 of the 50 hostages they still have are thought to be alive. In ceasefires or other agreements, the majority of the remaining hostages were freed.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is administered by Hamas, reports that over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory onslaught. The count does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
This report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
