'Do More': Senators Urge Joe Biden To Surge Medical Supplies For Gaza

Five Democratic senators doubled down on demands for President Joe Biden to more aggressively address “the medical crisis” in Gaza, by deploying added U.S. support and pushing Israel to halt its assaults on medical workers and facilities, in a letter sent to Biden on Wednesday and shared exclusively with HuffPost.

“The U.S. has the resources to provide significantly more aid and prevent further suffering of the two million Palestinians displaced in Gaza,” read the letter, signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Peter Welch (Vt.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) “Israel has the right to pursue Hamas terrorists who carried out the horrific attacks on October 7th, but it must comply with international law. The combination of Israeli restrictions on access to humanitarian aid and the harm caused by relentless bombing and shelling has devastated Gaza’s healthcare capacities at a time when the need for urgent care is soaring.”

The message notes that Israel’s U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza has included raids on hospitals and strikes on medical facilities run by American allies like Jordan. “We appreciate your efforts to address the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, but the United States can and must do more,” the letter tells Biden.

The senators want the Biden administration to launch airlifts to the handful of hospitals still functioning in Gaza and to expand its support for field hospitals in the Palestinian enclave beyond the one such facility the U.S. is currently funding, like other nations. Additionally, they seek “absolute assurances” that Israel will cease attacks on medical facilities and a U.S. Navy deployment of hospital ships to Gaza, echoing a step taken by Italy.

The