During a recent engagement at a neighbourhood mosque, Senator Elizabeth Warren expressed her belief that the Israeli assault on Gaza might be deemed a genocide by international authorities.
Warren (D-Mass.) made the statement while fielding questions from the audience at an event held at the Islamic Centre of Boston in Wayland, Massachusetts, on Friday. “If you want to do it as an application of law, I believe that they will find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so,” she added. On Monday, a reporter from GBH News uploaded a video of Warren’s remarks to X, and the video quickly went viral. The senator’s statements to AWN were verified by Warren’s office.
The questioner wanted to know Warren’s thoughts on the subject as well as her thoughts on the International Court of Justice’s decision that concluded it was “plausible” Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. The senator “commented on the ongoing legal process at the International Court of Justice, not sharing her views on whether genocide is occurring in Gaza,” according to a statement sent by Warren’s office to AWN Monday.
Since the beginning of the Gaza crisis, Warren has been under pressure from her left flank. Following Hamas’ attack on October 7, the progressive senator first expressed unwavering support for Israel. However, as the global outcry over Israel’s military response grew, far-left organisations started gathering outside her Cambridge home and offices, demanding that she push for an enduring truce in Gaza and a halt to more U.S. military assistance to Israel.
Warren has been more outspoken in her criticism of the Netanyahu government of Israel in the past several months. Restricting military funding to Israel was a notion Clinton put forth in January, when she said on X that the United States “cannot write a blank cheque for a right-wing government that has demonstrated an appalling disregard for Palestinian lives.” Warren spoke to CNN after seven aid workers were killed last week in drone strikes by Israel. One of the victims was a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen. Warren stated that Congress “has a responsibility to act,” and that the sale of arms to a country that violates U.S. laws, including those pertaining to humanitarian relief, cannot be approved.
When asked about the conflict in Gaza, Warren remarked at the mosque that it should be about more than just “labels.”
The need to condemn Israel’s actions is much greater, in my opinion. That is incorrect, she added. Intending to subjugate a civilian community by starving its children is morally reprehensible. Bombing heavily populated human areas with bombs weighing 2000 pounds is morally unacceptable.