Rep. Ellison Statement on Escalating Violence in Gaza and Israel

Statement

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement today after violence in Israel and Gaza continued to grow following the murders of three Israeli boys and one Palestinian boy.

"The current escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians won't get either side closer to security. It empowers bad actors and puts innocent people on both sides in harm's way. Therefore I call on Hamas to immediately stop launching rockets, and for Israel to cease air strikes and not send in ground troops. I support strong diplomatic intervention by the United States and regional partners to help establish an immediate ceasefire agreement.

"Young people are disproportionately being harmed in the current round of violence. Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Frenkel were teenagers. Muhammad Abu Khdeir was a teenager too. His cousin Tariq must be allowed to reunite with his family in Florida.

"Israeli and Palestinian mothers and fathers want the same thing: the security of knowing their children are safe. But only weeks after negotiations on a final status framework collapsed, war has broken out again. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed since July, including fifteen women and twenty-two children, while thousands of Israelis are forced to seek shelter from damaging rockets fired from Gaza.

"A ceasefire must be followed by intense diplomatic outreach to restart negotiations on a peaceful settlement between the two parties. Until an agreement can be reached, both Israelis and Palestinians must not give in to vengeance. We are united by far more than divides us."

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