By David Chang
Pennsylvania congresswoman Madeleine Dean (PA-04) called for a bilateral ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War.
Dean, who is also a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released a statement on Wednesday after returning from her second trip to Israel since the war began.
“Less than a week ago, I returned from my second trip to the Israeli and Palestinian territories since the October 7th brutal attacks,” she wrote. “The visits allowed me to speak with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem and Palestinian leaders in Ramallah.”
In her statement, Dean criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“What I saw confirmed my concerns and fears. Israel has the right and responsibility to defend itself, its sovereignty, and its citizens — but what is happening is beyond self-defense and is unacceptable to me,” she wrote. “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s dishonesty — his broken promises to use precision strikes to protect civilians and his false claims that safe zones have been created and enforced — is unacceptable.”
Dean had also visited Israel in November and said she spoke with Netanyahu at the time, urging him to “micro-target, dislodge Hamas, end civilian slaughtering, and bring all hostages home.” After returning from her first trip, Dean called for a “long term pause.”
“I advocated for a pause to ensure that hostages could be returned home and access to food, water, shelter, medical supplies, and other necessities could be restored in Gaza,” she wrote. “At that time, I had hoped that Israel would root out terrorism and rescue the hostages. Now, I have serious doubts about how Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government are executing this war and carrying out this rescue mission.”
In her statement on Wednesday, Dean said diplomacy “in the form of brief pauses” has been the only effective way to bring aid into Gaza and allow hostages to be released amid the war.
“And since the end of that pause, we have only seen more devastation and a disproportionately low level of success in finding Hamas operatives,” she wrote. “This war has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians – in Gaza, and in the West Bank, where settler violence has sharply risen since October 7th.”
Dean said she’s now calling for a bilateral ceasefire due to the war devastating “an already hurting population” and appearing to “have no end in sight.”
“Words matter. During this conflict, I have been careful and deliberate with my words. But four months into the war – into the suffering – we must all rally behind an end to the violence and heartbreak,” Dean wrote.
President Joe Biden said Monday that he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that would pause hostilities and allow for remaining hostages to be released can take effect by early next week.
Dean is currently serving her third term in Pennsylvania’s 4th District which encompasses the majority of Montgomery County in the Philly suburbs.
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