The Belfast, Maine Democratic Party passed a CEASEFIRE resolution on February 4, 2024

As participants in the 2024 Belfast, Maine Democratic Party caucus, we urge our Congressman Jared Golden, our U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and President Biden to support, and advocate and work for, an immediate and permanent ceasefire among all combatants in Gaza.

As of Friday, Feb. 2, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 27,000, with more than 66,000 wounded. Of those killed, more than 11,000 were children. No medical supplies are being allowed into Gaza, and doctors there are being forced to perform amputations and surgery without anesthesia. Schools, hospitals, mosques and refugee camps have all been attacked and destroyed. Thousands of buildings have been destroyed. Medical workers and journalists have been targeted for assassination.

Residents of northern Gaza have been advised to move south, only to be attacked there. Little if any aid is being allowed into Gaza, and there are reports of Gazans eating grass and drinking polluted and contaminated water just to stay alive. According to the U.N., the area’s entire population of 2.3 million is in immediate risk of hunger and famine.

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza. At a minimum, Israel is inflicting collective punishment on all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants, and by sending billions of dollars of arms and financial assistance to Israel, the United States is complicit in this collective punishment.

For these reasons, we call on President Biden and our congressional delegation to stop all aid to Israel until Israel ends its wanton and indiscriminate killing of Gazan civilians, and to support, and advocate and work for, an immediate and permanent ceasefire among all combatants in Gaza.