Washington [US], December 20: President Joe Biden's support for Israel during its more than 14-month war in Gaza has spurred over a dozen U.S. administration officials to quit, with some accusing Washington of turning a blind eye to Israeli atrocities.
The Biden administration denies this, pointing to its criticism of civilian casualties and efforts to boost humanitarian aid in Gaza, where health officials say over 45,000 have been killed in Israel's assault, which has also led to widespread hunger.
The Israeli assault followed an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed around 1,200 people and in which around 250 were taken hostage, according to Israel.
U.S. government has not commented on each resignation but has said it welcomes dissent. Here are the U.S. officials who have resigned:
MIKE CASEY left his role as the State Department's deputy political counselor on Gaza in July and disclosed reasons for the same in a December interview with the Guardian. "I got so tired of writing about dead kids," he told the newspaper.
"Just constantly having to prove to Washington that these children actually died and then watching nothing happen."
MARYAM HASSANEIN, who was a special assistant at the Department of Interior, quit her job in July. She slammed Biden's foreign policy, describing it as "genocide-enabling" and dehumanizing toward Arabs and Muslims. Israel denies genocide allegations by South Africa at the World Court and by human rights groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
MOHAMMED ABU HASHEM, a Palestinian American, said in mid-2024 he ended a 22-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He said he lost relatives in Gaza in the ongoing war, including an aunt killed in an Israeli air strike in October 2023.
RILEY LIVERMORE, who was a U.S. Air Force engineer, said in 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 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, opens new tab, alleging censorship after the U.S. 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, opens new tab.
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, opens new tab 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 U.S. Army major and Defense Intelligence Agency official, resigned in November 2023 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 2023 in the first publicly known resignation, citing what he described as Washington's "blind support" for Israel.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
