Calls for 119th Congress to Continue to Prioritize Aid Efforts to Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator George Helmy (D-NJ), the only Arab American in the Senate, today delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate Floor expressing his deep concern about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon due to the Israel-Hamas conflict. In his remarks, Senator Helmy encouraged the incoming Trump Administration and 119thCongress to continue to address the region’s complex policy and geopolitical challenges with precision and compassion.
“I come to the floor today as a New Jerseyan, as the only an Arab American serving in the Senate, and as a human being utterly devastated – broken, even – by the unfathomable scale of human suffering taking place right now in Gaza and the West Bank as a direct consequence of the Israel-Hamas conflict,” said Senator Helmy during his remarks. “This war has already claimed an estimated 44,000 lives across Gaza and the West Bank. Almost half of those killed by the bombshells and bullets of this war have been women and children – teens, toddlers, infants. That’s not to mention the millions more who have been displaced from their homes by this conflict and threatened by famine and illness.”
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon has reached unprecedented levels over the past year with blockades choking supply aid from entering those areas of critical need. Beyond the most basic supply needs, essential medical aid that surgeons and doctors need to save the lives of innocent civilians on the ground is critically lacking and urgently required.
“I met with medical surgeons and doctors of the Jordanian Armed Forces serving in Gaza who recounted harrowing stories of amputations on children, futile attempts to keep the malnourished alive, and operations in makeshift tents under live fire and drone strikes,” continued Senator Helmy during his remarks. “These frontline providers – these heroes – told me that a number of partially-operational hospitals are resorting to using everyday materials like sewing thread for clothes to stitch up patients after surgeries because they have run out of appropriate medical supplies.”
Senator Helmy emphasized his firm belief that Israel has a right to exist and defend herself in compliance with humanitarian laws and norms, stating: “One can call terrorism what it is, terrorism; one can stand up and support Israel and the Jewish people worldwide; and one can speak the truth that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank is unacceptable.”
Senator Helmy concluded his Floor remarks with one ask for the incoming administration and Congress: “My fervent plea is for all of us in this body to see what is happening in the Middle East through the lens of our humanity, first and foremost. No human being should be worth less than another based on which side of a checkpoint or crossing they live on. Perhaps, just perhaps, if we keep that principle at the center of our approach, we can do better by the innocent people of Gaza and the West Bank who so desperately need our humanity.”
Senator Helmy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recently returned to the United States following a three-day official trip to Jordan. During his trip, Senator Helmy engaged with key regional stakeholders to address the escalating humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. A consistent advocate for life-saving humanitarian aid, Senator Helmy has emphasized the need to support vulnerable populations in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. He maintains that any lasting resolution to the conflict in the Middle East must be rooted in a strategy that protects innocent civilians and ensures that they have hope for their future.
“My official trip to Jordan stands as one of the most profoundly eye-opening experiences of my life. Each meeting and briefing gave me an unfiltered view of the dangerous conditions innocent Palestinians are enduring daily in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon,” said Senator Helmy. “This experience, accompanied by the insights shared by individuals with extensive knowledge of the crisis, has compelled me to raise my voice once again on this stage.”
Upon return from his official trip to Jordan, Senator Helmy issued a statement in response to Israel’s passage of two laws to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) operations in Gaza and the West Bank, stating that, “UNRWA is the sole humanitarian agency that has the capacity, mandate, and manpower to immediately serve the millions of innocent civilians who are in dire need of humanitarian aid and protection.”
To view Senator Helmy’s full remarks, click here.
To watch Senator Helmy’s full remarks, click here.