Gaza policy makes US a ‘target’: former officials
Al Jazeera
Dozen that quit over US support for Israel accuse US of ‘undeniable complicity’ in killing and starvation in Gaza.
A group of former United States government officials have claimed that Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza puts national security at risk.
The 12 officials, who resigned over the last nine months protesting against the US policy, said in a letter released late on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s support for Israel means that Washington has “undeniable complicity” in the killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. They labelled the White House policy on the war in the enclave “a failure and a threat to US national security”.
While Biden and his administration have made rhetorical efforts urging Israel to show restraint in recent weeks, Washington continues to provide military and diplomatic support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government, which includes hardline nationalist parties.
That has seen several officials quit in protest since Netanyahu launched the war on the enclave following Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Maryam Hassanein, who left her post as a special assistant at the Department of the Interior on Tuesday, was the latest to resign. She was one of the signatories, alongside former officials from the Department of State, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the military, and four political staff members.