Rep. Raúl Grijalva voices humanitarian concerns about Israel's 'complete siege' of Gaza

Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona joined 54 other House Democrats on Friday to voice concern about Israel’s stated plan to enact a “complete siege” of water, food and electricity on Gaza in response to attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The letter, addressed to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, urged both sides of the conflict to “follow international humanitarian law” and “protect innocent civilian lives on both sides.”

Israeli officials have ordered a total blockade on Gaza, which is home to 2 million people.

“As both the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights said, imposing a complete siege on Gaza and depriving 2.3 million Palestinian civilians who have nowhere else to go — half of whom are children — of food, water and electricity, would be a violation of international humanitarian law,” the member of Congress wrote.

On Friday morning, Israeli officials called for the one million inhabitants of northern Gaza to relocate further south, as they carry out raids, a move that the United Nations has described as “impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences.”

Grijalva, D-Ariz., voted against providing funding for Israel’s air rocket defense system in 2021, signing a letter earlier that year expressing concern that the country’s behavior in the occupied West Bank violated Palestinians’ human rights.

"Israel's ongoing colonization of the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, alongside its demolition of Palestinian homes, is a form of ongoing, de facto annexation which needs to be unequivocally opposed by the United States," the 2021 letter reads.

Grijalva emphasized to The Arizona Republic that after Hamas’ attacks on Israel, “the whole paradigm on how to deal with the Middle East completely changed,” and that he plans to vote in favor of sending supplemental military aid to Israel.

“The situation … just reshaped everything,” Grijalva said. “Right now, the priority is the defense of a democracy, Israel and a defense of its people. At the same time, I hope that every effort is going on to try to limit the effect on non-combatants and civilians, particularly the elderly and children.”

“The humanitarian aid has to get in there,” he said. “That is not contradictory to saying we are going to support a supplemental (military aid package).”

The representatives’ letter also included calls to ensure that a possible U.S. aid package includes support for civilians in both Gaza and Israel, establishes corridors for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, and publicly discourages hate crimes against Jews and Muslims in the U.S.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rep. Raúl Grijalva concerned about Israel's 'complete siege' of Gaza