A growing number of Democrats from across the party’s ideological spectrum are speaking out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling for the Trump administration to intervene in the Israel-Hamas war amid warnings from global leaders and international relief groups that the situation in the war-torn strip has reached a breaking point.
The barrage of statements come after international leaders and aid organizations issued dire warnings this week that the nearly 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face starvation as a result of Israeli aid blockages.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries bashed the administration’s approach to the conflict in a statement posted to X on Saturday.
“During the first six months of Donald Trump’s time in office, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a breaking point,” Jeffries wrote.
“Hostages are still being held by Hamas despite the President’s promise they would be released and the pre-existing ceasefire the administration inherited has been breached. The starvation and death of Palestinian children and civilians in an ongoing war zone is unacceptable,” the Democratic leader wrote. “The Trump administration has the ability to bring an end to this humanitarian crisis. They must act now.”
Global outrage at the crisis in Gaza has been bubbling for months, reaching its loudest this week. The leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement on Friday calling for an end to the war, and for the Israeli government “to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid” and “uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
On Saturday, amid the increased condemnation globally, the Israel Defense Forces announced that aid airdrops would begin Saturday evening and humanitarian corridors for United Nations convoys would be opened.
But the Israeli military maintained that “there is no starvation in Gaza,” and said such claims were “a false campaign promoted by Hamas.” The military did not say when or where the U.N. convoy corridors would open.
Progressives in the Democratic Party have remained firm in their assessment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war in Gaza, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) calling Netanyahu’s unrelenting military operation an “extermination of Gaza.”
“The White House and Congress must immediately act to end this war using the full scope of American influence,” the Vermont senator, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said Friday in a statement on X. “No more military aid to the Netanyahu government.”
Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that “President Trump wants a better life for the people of Gaza because he has a humanitarian heart. Tragically, the people of Gaza are struggling because of Hamas’ clear lack of desire to reach a ceasefire and work in good faith towards a permanent peace.”
She touted the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — an aid organization backed by the U.S. and Israeli governments — to deliver “85 million meals to date — aid which was only possible because of President Trump’s call for creative solutions to help the Palestinians.”
The Democratic Party has been roiled by the Israel-Hamas war, which began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Progressives in the party — like Sanders — have criticized Israel, saying its military response to the attack has devastated Gaza and killed tens of thousands of innocent people.
But as the Israeli offensive has dragged on, more Democrats have increasingly condemned Netanyahu’s government — particularly over the last several days, as global outrage mounted over the humanitarian crisis facing Gazans.
Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), two Democrats who have remained staunch supporters of Israel, joined the outcry of concern for those in Gaza — while still keeping the onus on Hamas.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a full-blown crisis, with innocent women and children who are starving,” Scholten wrote in a press release Saturday, adding that “we must remain clear-eyed about one thing: Hamas started this war and can end it today. But they choose not to.”
Goldman gave a similar response, expressing concern for the amount of starving Palestinians, while keeping the blame on Hamas: “And let’s be clear: Hamas could end it today if they wanted to. Israel has agreed to a ceasefire proposal, Hamas has rejected it. Release the hostages and end this travesty.”
Still, some Democrats haven’t viewed this moment in Gaza as the time to break from Israel’s leadership.
Rep. Josh Gottenheimer (D-N.J.), who has positioned himself as one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in Congress, hit back hard on a decision by French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced that his country will become the first G7 country to recognize the state of Palestine.
“France’s decision is deeply misguided,” the New Jersey congressman wrote on X on Saturday. “It rewards Hamas for the atrocities of October 7 and is counterproductive to real, lasting peace.”
The overwhelming uproar from Democrats comes just two days after special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that the U.S. was pulling out of ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel, claiming that “Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”
The Trump administration has sought to bring the war in Gaza to a close after a fragile ceasefire deal struck in the transition between the Biden and Trump administrations collapsed in March.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that Hamas “didn’t want to make a deal.” When asked if he had spoken to Netanyahu about foreign aid drops in Gaza, the president said they had spoken but declined to share details.
At times, Trump has appeared optimistic that the parties would agree to a peace deal, despite Netanyahu’s stubborn refusal to consider permanently stopping the war and Hamas’ ever-shifting negotiation tactics.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has rapidly escalated as relief organizations say Israel has withheld aid from Palestinians in the war-torn strip, despite global outcry. World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus on Thursday warned that the more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza face mass starvation, in addition to threats posed by continual bombing.
Ghebreyesus, along with other global leaders, has warned for months of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip, cautioning that it was on course to reach mass-starvation levels.
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