U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman echoed Sen. Chuck Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel while speaking to MSNBC’s Alex Witt Saturday. “The majority of Gaza has already been destroyed through acts of collective punishment by this maniac, Benjamin Netanyahu,” Bowman said. “He is a blockade to a pathway to peace. And we need a cease fire right now.”
Israel’s Prime Minister came up after Witt asked Bowman whether Congress should have been notified of the recent delivery of military aid to Israel even though it was approved “years ago.” The congressman from New York was resolute: “Oh, absolutely. Congress should have been notified and forget the politics of it.”
“This is about our humanity, and this is about our morality,” he added. “We have hundreds of thousands of children starving to death in Gaza right now, as we speak, the majority of the American people support a permanent ceasefire.”
“The majority of my district supports a permanent ceasefire. We need a permanent ceasefire. We need to bring in hundreds of trucks that are five miles away from Gaza right now of aid, to save as many lives as possible. There’s a humanitarian crisis,” Bowman continued.
“The majority of Gaza has already been destroyed through acts of collective punishment by this maniac, Benjamin Netanyahu. I’m 100% with Senator Schumer. He needs to be removed. He is a blockade to a pathway to peace. And we need a cease fire right now. That’s what we should be focused on humanitarian aid, not weapons.”
On Friday the United States authorized additional military aid to Israel that includes “more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs,” according to sources that spoke to Reuters. Israel receives approximately $3.8 billion in aid from the United States each year.
The approval came as the Biden administration has expressed concern about Israel’s planned ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where millions of Palestinians are sheltering without anywhere else to go. It also comes as several reports indicate U.S. officials believe famine is now a reality in the heavily hit city of Gaza.
Aid delivery to Gaza is still difficult to achieve. Though the U.S. has attempted to deliver aid by air to Palestinians, those efforts have been criticized for being expensive and ineffective, and have even resulted in the deaths of people desperate for food and medicine.
Watch the interview with Bowman in the video above.
