Whereas the horrific attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, killed 1,195 Israelis;

Whereas Israeli military operations in Gaza have resulted in more than 45,000 Palestinians killed;

Whereas, the January 15, 2025, ceasefire between Israel and Hamas resulted in the long-overdue return of innocent hostages taken by Hamas, the suspension of Israeli military activity in Gaza and the redeployment of forces, and an opportunity for the international community to surge humanitarian aid to Gazans in need;

Whereas, on February 4, 2025, President Trump suggested the United States will take over the Gaza Strip and forcibly relocate its people;

Whereas the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and their own independent state, and to live with dignity and in peaceful coexistence with their neighbors;

Whereas the United States asserting control over Gaza would fracture relations with United States partners in the region and around the world, validate the Iranian regime’s corrosive rhetoric, and foster higher levels of radicalization and terrorism that would only further threaten the interests of the United States and United States citizens and members of the Armed Forces in the region;

Whereas the people of the United States have no interest in a new and extended military deployment to the Middle East, a new forever war in the Middle East, expending untold billions of taxpayer dollars to support any United States military operations in Gaza, or the forcible displacement of 2,000,000 people from Gaza; and

Whereas there is no congressional authorization, as required by law, for the use of United States military force in Gaza: Now, therefore, be it