The movement has gained endorsements from dozens of state and local officials. Among them is Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American elected to the US Congress, who also called for people to effectively vote against Biden in today’s contest.
Rashida Tlaib, centre, alongside fellow Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley.Credit: AP
“We must make sure that our government is about us – about the people,” Tlaib said in a social media video after voting “uncommitted” today.
“When 74 per cent of Democrats in Michigan support a ceasefire, yet president Biden is not hearing us, this is the way we can use our democracy to say: listen. Listen to Michigan.”
The White House, on the other hand, insists that it has been doing what it can to push for a cease-fire. On Monday, Biden said he believes an agreement to hold Israel’s military operations in Gaza could take place early next week, in exchange for some of the 100-plus hostages being held by Hamas.
Asked by a reporter during a campaign stop in New York when he expected a ceasefire to begin Biden replied: “I hope by the end of the weekend. My national security advisor tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a cease-fire.”
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If a deal is brokered, it would be a crucial moment in the Middle East conflict, where the death toll in Gaza is set to pass 30,000 this week.
Appearing on Late night with Seth Meyers on Monday night, the president also revealed that there had been “an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan” – the Muslim holy month that starts in two weeks- to “give us time to get all the hostages out”.
However, Hamas later played down a deal, with the group’s representative in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdel Hadi, telling a local TV channel that the leaks were “psychological warfare” designed to pressure the Hamas leadership to wave its conditions for a ceasefire.
Among these conditions is a demand to end the fighting and withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza – something that Israeli, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has previously described as “delusional.”
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Source Agencies
