Chicago has become biggest US city to pass resolution for ceasefire in Gaza

Chicago's city council has passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, making it the biggest US city to make the move.

The resolution, which was endorsed last week by Mayor Brandon Johnson, was passed with a tie-breaking vote by the progressive city leader on Wednesday.

"Our people need to thank a number of other champions of the resolution and of our community, including Alders Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Jessie Fuentes, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Stephanie Coleman, Jeanette Taylor, and Desmon Yancy, and of course, Mayor Brandon Johnson," said Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the US Palestinian Community Network, in a press release issued Wednesday.

"We would not have been able to win this battle without each and every one of them, and now we move onward to use this victory as inspiration to continue demanding that Genocide Joe Biden stop supporting the genocide against our people," he continued.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank and has wounded more than 65,000. The ongoing indiscriminate bombardment of the small enclave has also caused massive destruction of homes and infrastructure, leading to concerns of famine, communicable disease and permanent displacement of residents.

Chicago's ceasefire resolution comes after months of advocacy by a diverse coalition of activists led by the Chicago area's Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities. 

The city now joins a growing list of localities across the US, numbering around 70 as of early February, that have called for a ceasefire. This, according to multiple polls, reflects the position of the majority of Americans (around 68 percent) supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.