Senator Reverend Warnock spoke about the need for Israel, the United States, and the global community to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza to prevent further death and starvation during a speech on the floor of the Senate
Watch Senator Warnock’s speech HERE
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) called for immediate access to humanitarian aid to end starvation among innocent Palestinian children and families in Gaza during a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. In his remarks, Senator Warnock highlighted how starvation is being weaponized in Gaza and how Israel, the United States, and the world need to be doing more to get food and aid to these people. Senator Warnock called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop using forced starvation as a weapon of war and instead focus on a lasting, moral peace that secures the return of the remaining hostages while respecting the dignity of Palestinian families and children who want the same peace as Israelis.
“In Gaza today, starvation is being weaponized; famine isn’t a forecast but a fact, despite the denials of the Netanyahu government. I rise today, not only as a Senator, but as a pastor, as a pastor of the church where Martin Luther King Jr. served, who told us that we are tied in a single garment of destiny, caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality; whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I rise today as a father to say there is devastating starvation going on right now, and all of us, Israel, the United States, and the world cannot turn our eyes away. We must get to these people the food, the medicine, the dignity that their humanity requires,” said Senator Reverend Warnock.
During the speech, Senator Warnock reaffirmed his support for the state of Israel and its right to defend itself while also acknowledging it is wrong to starve children and other innocent civilians to death. Senator Warnock continued his call for a ceasefire and for Hamas to return the hostages. The Senator looks forward to resuming the work of securing peace and safety for all those in the region.
“History may not remember the debates we had in these chambers, but it will remember whether we acted when children were starving and hostages were languishing. Silence is complicity; inaction in the face of famine is a choice, so let us choose life, dignity, and a peace worthy of the ideals we claim to pursue,” Senator Reverend Warnock concluded.
This month, Senator Warnock joined more than forty of his colleagues in calling for the large-scale expansion of humanitarian aid and urged the Trump administration to resume diplomatic efforts to end this war. Senator Warnock also called on the administration to end the United States’ support for and financing of the shady, private organization that has been connected to deadly violence against starving people seeking food in Gaza, and instead resume support for the existing UN-led aid efforts with enhanced oversight to ensure help reaches those in need. In February 2024, Senator Warnock called for a moral ceasefire in a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
A full transcript of Senator Warnock’s remarks can be found below:
M. President, I rise today in the wake of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes in Gaza. As we say in my church’s preaching tradition, let me make it plain! It is wrong to starve children to death. It is wrong to starve people to death.
Yet, in this moment, we are witnessing a famine unfold among children and innocent men and women in Gaza, the world’s largest open-air prison, a pit of human misery.
Reports estimate 18,500 Palestinian children have been killed in the conflict. Over 20,000 children were treated for acute malnutrition between April and mid‑July of this year, and at least 3,000 were severely malnourished.
In Gaza today, starvation is being weaponized; famine isn’t a forecast but a fact, despite the denials of the Netanyahu government. I rise today, not only as a Senator, but as a pastor, as a pastor of the church where Martin Luther King Jr. served, who told us that we are tied in a single garment of destiny, caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality; whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I rise today as a father to say there is devastating starvation going on right now, and all of us, Israel, the United States, and the world cannot turn our eyes away. We must get to these people the food, the medicine, the dignity that their humanity requires.
The images of mass starvation are sickening. Children with no family, bare feet, empty bellies, hollowed eyes, who are seeking aid only to be trampled to death by other desperate people. And in their most desperate moments, some have been met not with mercy or medicine, but with malice. Young people seeking bread have been met with bullets.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must stop using indiscriminate bombing and forced starvation, and instead focus on a lasting, moral peace that secures the return of the remaining hostages while respecting the dignity of Palestinian families and children who want the same peace as our Israeli brothers and sisters. All of us are children of the living God. And in the eyes of suffering children, we see a glimpse of God’s face.
After international outcry and public shaming, it was a welcomed announcement that Prime Minister Netanyahu would allow more aid into Gaza and enact military pauses to allow food to reach people. But what has been delivered so far is just a drop in the bucket of what this moment requires. The people of Gaza deserve the same access to food and medicine that any one of us would want for our own children.
Now, there’s no question that peace in the Middle East is a tough issue. If it were easy, it would have been resolved by now. We cannot forget about what happened on October 7 and we must continue to call on Hamas to free the hostages. These folks deserve to go home. They deserve to be home with their families. So we call on Hamas to release the hostages.
As I’ve said time and time again, including in the wake of October 7, Israel has a right to defend itself. But what is happening now?
Children are being wounded, many of them have been orphaned. Pregnant and nursing mothers are having to navigate a war zone while nourishing their children. And beyond the obvious moral atrocity, the question is how has this continuing bombing and mass starvation made our friend Israel safer? How has this made Israel safer? And at what cost?
I urge President Trump, who has said that there is “real starvation” in Gaza, to leverage American leadership to bring an end to this human suffering. Human lives are at stake and America’s moral credibility is on the line.
Inflicting human misery for its own sake is not a strategy. Starving the people of Gaza has not released any hostages or gotten us any closer to a ceasefire. The current trajectory is unsustainable. I do not believe that the answer to death and destruction is more death and destruction.
There’s this phrase in Gaza, it’s an acronym. W-C-N-S-F. Wounded child, no surviving family. I can’t think of a worse way to begin your life than to be a child or baby wounded with no family. This phrase takes on new meaning as we are hearing stories out of Gaza of parents starving to death to give what little food they have to keep their children alive.
Here’s what I believe. I believe in the humanity of all of God’s children and that’s why I pressed the previous administration AND the Netanyahu administration to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. I voted to give $10 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza and other humanitarian crises.
And just this month, I joined more than forty of my colleagues calling for the large-scale expansion of humanitarian aid and I urged the Trump administration to resume diplomatic efforts to end this war.
I also called on the administration to end the United States’ support and financing for the shady, private organization that has been connected to deadly violence against starving people seeking food in Gaza. We must instead resume support for the existing UN-led aid efforts with enhanced oversight to ensure that help reaches those in need.
My North Star in this whole conflict is a world that embraces children on both sides of this conflict. Because here’s the thing that even mortal enemies have in common, all of us want our children to be okay. We all want our children to be safe. And as I said this on the floor of the Senate when I called for the ceasefire at a time when folks felt like you couldn’t even say the word. This pressure has prompted temporary pauses in violence and some aid, but it is clear these piecemeal steps are failing.
America is Israel’s friend. However, being a friend to Israel does not mean being complicit in its government’s immoral actions unfolding even as I speak. Israel’s strength is rooted in its allies. But allyship, true allyship, involves accountability. Here’s how I know when I’ve got a good friend–good friends tell you the truth.
We must tell Netanyahu he must change course. The Israeli government’s current path is hurting the country’s global standing and support in the world. So in the end, this growing humanitarian crisis is not good for Israel. Good friends tell you the truth.
And that is why yesterday, I voted in favor of the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval. I’ve been thinking of the words of my mentor, my hero, who happened to also be my parishioner, the late, great, John Lewis, who said that when you see something is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up.
So I’m speaking up, I’m speaking with my lips and my legs because the acid test of your faith is your commitment to the most marginalized members of the human family. We must work towards saving lives and centering our common humanity, returning the hostages home to their families, and securing peace and safety for all those in the region.
Last year, I had the honor of meeting with the late pontiff, Pope Francis, at the Vatican, and I was struck by something the Pope said to me. He said to me that there was a small parish in Gaza that he called practically every night just to check on them, just to pray for them. Leader of Catholics all over the world, he called that little parish to pray with them.
Well the other day that church was bombed. As it turns out, there was no sanctuary for them, even in the sanctuary. And so tonight, I’m going to say a special prayer, not only for the people of that parish, but for the people all around them. I’m going to pray for peace. But we don’t just pray with our lips. We have to pray with our legs. We have to work for the world that we dream of for our children.
History may not remember the debates we had in these chambers, but it will remember whether we acted when children were starving and hostages were languishing. Silence is complicity; inaction in the face of famine is a choice, so let us choose life, dignity, and a peace worthy of the ideals we claim to pursue. I yield the floor.
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