WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s support for Israel during its nearly nine-month war in Gaza has spurred a dozen US administration officials to quit, with some accusing him of turning a blind eye to Israeli atrocities in the Palestinian enclave.
The Biden administration denies this, pointing to its criticism of civilian casualties in Gaza and its efforts to boost humanitarian aid to the enclave, where health officials say nearly 38,000 have been killed in Israel’s assault which has also led to widespread hunger.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Here are the US officials who have resigned:
Maryam Hassanein, who was a special assistant at the Department of Interior, quit her job on Tuesday. She slammed Biden’s foreign policy, describing it as “genocide-enabling” and dehumanizing toward Arabs and Muslims. Israel denies genocide allegations.
Mohammed Abu Hashem, a Palestinian American, said last month he ended a 22-year career in the US Air Force. He said he lost relatives in Gaza in the ongoing war, including an aunt killed in an Israeli air strike in October.
Riley Livermore, who was a US Air Force engineer, said in mid-June that he was leaving his role. “I don’t want to be working on something that can turn around and be used to slaughter innocent people,” he told the Intercept news website.
Stacy Gilbert, who served in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, left in late May. She said she resigned over an administration report to Congress that she said falsely stated Israel was not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Alexander Smith, a contractor for USAID, quit in late May, alleging censorship after the US foreign aid agency canceled publication of his presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians. The agency said it had not gone through proper review and approval.
Lily Greenberg Call, a Jewish political appointee, resigned in May, having served as a special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department. “As a Jew, I cannot endorse the Gaza catastrophe,” she wrote in the Guardian.
Anna Del Castillo, a deputy director at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, departed in April and became the first known White House official to leave the administration over policy toward Gaza.
Hala Rharrit, an Arabic language spokesperson for the State Department, departed her post in April in opposition to the United States’ Gaza policy, she wrote on her LinkedIn page.
Annelle Sheline resigned from the State Department’s human rights bureau in late March, writing in a CNN article that she was unable to serve a government that “enables such atrocities.”
Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American, quit as special assistant in the Education Department’s office of planning in January. He said the Biden administration was turning a “blind eye” to atrocities in Gaza.
Harrison Mann, a US Army major and Defense Intelligence Agency official, resigned in November over Gaza policy and went public with his reasons in May.
Josh Paul, director of the State Department’s bureau of political military affairs, left in October in the first publicly known resignation, citing what he described as Washington’s “blind support” for Israel.
