FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July 29, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke issued the following statement:

“The humanitarian crisis in Gaza stands at an unbearable breaking point. Over nearly two long years of war, its people have faced the full weight of a brutal retaliation against Hamas’ crime on October 7th. Tens of thousands of children, women, and men have lost their lives to this horrific conflict, and I am severely pained and distressed to see this already dire situation deteriorate even further. Let me be clear: the continuation of famine in Gaza is a moral catastrophe that America cannot and must not abide by. It is crucial that Israel takes every possible action to ensure food, water, and medicine flow into the Strip at once, and I urge the Trump Administration to use its immense influence to see that Israel does so. There can be no alternative. An overwhelming amount of aid must reach the people of Gaza, and it must reach them now. With every passing hour bringing us closer to the unthinkable, any further delay is totally unacceptable.

“While the horrors committed against the victims and hostages of October 7th are neither forgivable nor justifiable, their families, their communities, and their country will find no justice in the ruins of Gaza. This thirst for violence and vengeance must not continue. Israel has relentlessly proven its power since that tragic day two years ago, and its control over Gaza has remained absolute ever since. So, I am frankly not interested in excuses as to why starved children cannot have the food or medicine required to save their lives. I am not interested in accusations of fault behind why aid has not already been delivered. Two terrible years of war have made the well-being of the Palestinian people Israel’s responsibility, and only Israel can pull them back from this devastation. All the world can see that any efforts to do so thus far are wholly and unequivocally insufficient. 

“For the sake of human decency and securing any chance at a stable and lasting peace in the region, freeing the hostages and feeding Gaza must be parallel priorities for the Israeli government. Without an immediate change, the two-state solution that I and millions of others have long advocated for will be permanently put out of reach by this ceaseless cycle of destruction. Ending it begins with ending the pain in Gaza.”

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