Rashida Tlaib, 20 other US lawmakers urge Congress to recognise Israel's Gaza genocide

Twenty-one members of the US House of Representatives, led by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, have introduced a resolution declaring that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in one of the most direct and sweeping challenges yet to Washington's long-standing support for Israel.

Filed on Friday, the measure argues that Israeli forces have carried out "acts constituting genocide" under international law, citing mass civilian killings, forced starvation, widespread displacement, and what it describes as the "systematic destruction" of Gaza's health, water and civil infrastructure.

It also points to public statements by senior Israeli officials that it says demonstrate clear genocidal intent, including former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's 9 October 2023 declaration that "No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel" would enter Gaza, announcing a complete siege of the enclave.

Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, said the scale of destruction in Gaza made recognition unavoidable.

"The Israeli government's genocide in Gaza has not ended, and it will not end until we act," she said, accusing the US government of providing "a blank check for war crimes and ethnic cleansing".

She added that while Washington continues to approve weapons transfers, "Palestinian children are being killed by bombs and bullets marked 'Made in the United States'."

The resolution calls on the US to meet its obligations under the Genocide Convention, which requires states to prevent and punish genocide when credible warnings emerge.

It urges the Trump administration and Congress to halt weapon sales and security assistance to Israel, support international accountability measures, and investigate any US-based individuals or companies alleged to have aided or facilitated the crime.

The text argues that a broad international consensus was already formed around the genocide determination.

It cites findings from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, Médecins Sans Frontières and other organisations that say Israel's war on Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.

In September, a UN commission formally concluded that Israel had committed genocide, while the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since October 2023, the Gaza health ministry says more than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children.

Months of bombardment, displacement and siege have left the territory almost uninhabitable, with entire neighbourhoods erased, disease spreading rapidly and the UN warning of "near-total starvation" across the population.

The resolution's co-sponsors reflect the core of the House’s progressive bloc. Backers include Representatives Becca Balint, André Carson, Greg Casar, Maxine Dexter, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Chuy García, Al Green, Pramila Jayapal, Hank Johnson, Ro Khanna, Summer Lee, Jim McGovern, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Delia Ramirez, Jan Schakowsky, Melanie Stansbury, Jill Tokuda and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

Robert S. McCaw, Government Affairs Director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the resolution had marked a significant political shift.

Recognising the genocide, he said, "is only the beginning", predicting that state legislatures and local governments would introduce similar measures across the country in the coming year.

He added that communities must be able to push for an end to US weapons transfers and "call for real consequences" for those involved in the atrocities.

The resolution is unlikely to advance in the current Congress, where support for Israel remains strong in both parties. But its introduction underscores the growing divide within the Democratic Party over US policy, as the scale of destruction in Gaza continues to fuel protests, legal challenges and mounting pressure on the Trump administration from rights groups and humanitarian agencies.