Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), alongside 28 of their Senate colleagues, introduced a resolution calling on the Trump administration to use all possible diplomatic tools to end the Israeli government’s blockade of food and lifesaving humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. In their resolution, the senators express grave concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the imminent food insecurity facing nearly all of the Strip’s 2.2 million people.
“The United States must work with Israel and our regional allies to end this blockade and ensure that Palestinian civilians in Gaza have access to life-saving humanitarian aid,” said Bennet. “The Trump administration must also wield all possible diplomatic tools to end this war in a way that sets the stage for a two-state solution that ensures Israel’s security and fulfills Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for self-determination.”
Earlier this month – ahead of President Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates – Bennet sent a letter to President Trump pushing for the resumption of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and a return to ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the war in a Gaza in a manner that ensures Israel’s security and ends the crisis in Gaza.
In recent months, Bennet has repeatedly demanded that President Trump abandon his foolish plan to send U.S. soldiers to Gaza to build a “Riviera of the Middle East” and eject over two million Gazans.
Last year, Bennet urged then-Ambassador of Israel to the United States Michael Herzog and Ambassador of Egypt to the United States Motaz Zahran to ensure Palestinian children who are critically ill or injured can leave Gaza safely to seek medical treatment, and increase access to life-saving medical treatments in Gaza. He also called on the Biden administration to continue working with allies and partners to expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza by increasing access points for aid into Gaza, distributing adequate fuel to hospitals, and ensuring the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.
Bennet also traveled to the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan in 2024. In meetings with Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian leaders, he underscored that degrading Hamas’ military capabilities, fighting for release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and protecting and delivering aid to Palestinian civilians cannot be mutually exclusive.
In addition to Bennet and Welch, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) cosponsored the resolution.
The text of the resolution is available HERE.