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WHEREAS, 80% of the population in Gaza relies on humanitarian aid, 63% of Palestinians have <br />too little food, 60% of preschool-aged children in Gaza are anemic, 96% of the water in Gaza is <br />undrinkable, and Gazans cannot count on more than 12 hours of continuous electrical power a <br />day, all this before the recent siege; <br />WHEREAS, collective punishment is considered a war crime under international law, and refers <br />to a form of sanction imposed on persons or a group of persons in response to a crime committed <br />by one of them or a member of the group; <br />WHEREAS, the state of Israel is engaging in collective punishment against the Palestinian <br />people in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas; <br />WHEREAS, in addition to the ongoing air strike campaign, Israel has cut off food, fuel, water, <br />and medical supplies from reaching the people of Gaza, creating a humanitarian catastrophe; <br />WHEREAS, the United Nations defines ethnic cleansing as “a purposeful policy designed by one <br />ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population <br />of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas”; <br />WHEREAS, Israeli American scholar Omer Bartov, one of the world’s leading experts on the <br />Holocaust, has pointed to statements made by Israeli political leaders and military leaders, such <br />as speaking about flattening Gaza, referring to the people of Gaza as “human animals,” and <br />announcing plans to move the entire population of Gaza out of Gaza, as evidence of “a clear <br />intention of ethnic cleansing” on the part of the Israeli government; <br />WHEREAS, On November 16, 2023, the United Nations called on the international community <br />to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people; <br />WHEREAS, in addition to the violence that we have seen in Israel and Gaza, Amnesty <br />International has reported an escalation in violence in the West Bank, the Palestinian territory <br />along the Jordan River, where as of November 27th, nearly 239Palestinians, including over 40 <br />children, have been killed by Israeli military and illegal Israeli settlers since October 7th; <br />WHEREAS, we mourn the loss of all civilian lives lost on both sides from October 7th to the <br />present and also throughout the decades of displacement, occupation, oppression and blockade <br />endured in Gaza and the West Bank; <br />WHEREAS, all human life is precious, and the targeting of civilians, no matter their faith or <br />ethnicity, is a violation of international humanitarian law;