Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, calling the conclusion “inescapable” and becoming the first US senator to use the term.
“Over the last two years, Israel has not simply defended itself against Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “Instead, it has waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.”
Sanders had long received flak from supporters and protesters alike for avoiding the term, which he previously said made him “queasy” when protesters chanted it last year during a speech in Ireland.
On Monday, an independent UN commission of experts concluded that Israel’s actions “meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide convention”.
“I agree,” Sanders wrote in a statement on his Senate webpage titled, “It Is Genocide. The intent is clear.”
Sanders cited the casualty figures: at least 65,000 Palestinians killed and 164,000 wounded out of a population of 2.2 million, with figures from an Israeli military database suggesting that 83% of those killed were civilians. He also pointed to Israeli officials’ statements as proof of intent, quoting defense minister Yoav Gallant calling Palestinians “human animals” and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich vowing “Gaza will be entirely destroyed”.
While Sanders said Israel had a right to defend itself after the 7 October attack that killed about 1,200 people, he argued the response has targeted all the Palestinians in Gaza.
“We, as Americans, must end our complicity in the slaughter of the Palestinian people,” he wrote. “Having named it a genocide, we must use every ounce of our leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire, a massive surge of humanitarian aid facilitated by the UN, and initial steps to provide Palestinians with a state of their own.”
He now joins a small but growing list of House members including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, as well as Vermont representative Becca Balint, who also called it a genocide earlier in the day.
“Today, I believe the Israeli government is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people,” Balint wrote in an op-ed in the Courier. “As the granddaughter of a man murdered in the Holocaust, it is not easy for me to say that.”
Last week, Democratic senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley unveiled a report following their recent trip to the Middle East, where they say they’ve come to the “inescapable conclusion” that ethnic cleansing is being committed in Gaza and that the United States is complicit.
The statement also comes as several countries including Australia, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Canada and the UK plan to recognize Palestinian statehood at next week’s UN general assembly in New York.
Still, the Trump administration has backed Israeli actions since coming into office. In March, the White House said Trump “fully supports” Israel’s operations in Gaza, while Trump has suggested the US take control over the strip to help facilitate Palestinian departures. In the US, the administration has simultaneously expanded efforts to silence dissent from pro-Palestine voices, with the state department issuing broad orders to consulates in March to vet student visas over “terrorist activity”, which include social media posts.
Sanders has previously led Senate efforts to block offensive weapons sales to Israel through joint resolutions of disapproval, and while getting half of Democratic party members in the chamber to support it, the efforts have not succeeded in stopping arms transfers.
Now, the independent lawmaker called again for ending US military aid to “[Benjamin] Netanyahu’s genocidal government” and demanded an immediate ceasefire.
“The very term genocide is a reminder of what can happen if we fail,” Sanders wrote. “That word emerged from the Holocaust – the murder of 6 million Jews – one of the darkest chapters in human history. Make no mistake. If there is no accountability for Netanyahu and his fellow war criminals, other demagogues will do the same.”
