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'Ceasefire now!' Protesters interrupt US congress hearing
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were appealing to the Senate Appropriations Committee for billions of dollars in military assistance to support Israel, Ukraine and other security costs.
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Protesters raise their painted hands as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testify during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to examine the national security supplemental request, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 31, 2023. Blinken and Austin are testifying for a $105 billion request to support Israel, Ukraine and other security priorities.
(AFP/Saul Loeb)
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rotesters with hands covered in red paint repeatedly interrupted a congressional hearing on US military aid Tuesday, demanding Washington stop funding Israel's fight against Hamas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were appealing to the Senate Appropriations Committee for billions of dollars in military assistance to support Israel, Ukraine and other security costs.
Some two dozen spectators raised hands covered in paint in a symbol of the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment of the Palestinian territory after Hamas's attack earlier this month.
Several wore messages of "Free Gaza" written on their arms and held signs demanding "No more $$$ 4 Israel," while some cried out "Ceasefire now," "Palestinians are not animals" and "Shame on you all."
One man wore a shirt reading "Stop backing genocide."
Blinken was forced to stop speaking several times as some demonstrators were escorted out by police.
President Joe Biden has asked Congress for more than $105 billion in security spending, including $14.3 billion for its staunch ally Israel.
Israeli troops and Hamas militants were engaged in "fierce battles" in Gaza on Tuesday, Israel's military said, as tanks and armored bulldozers advanced through the ruins of the embattled territory, which the United Nations said is facing "unprecedented" humanitarian needs.
Israel's response to the Hamas attack has now killed more than 8,500 people, according to the latest count given by the Hamas-run health ministry, many of them children.
The siege comes after the bloodiest attack in Israel's history, when Hamas gunmen killed some 1,400 people in a brutal cross-border raid, according to Israeli officials.
Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations chief said he was "deeply alarmed" by the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hamas, while the UN refugee agency appealed for the divided Security Council to act.
The 15-member Council has not adopted any resolution on the three-week-long war in the Middle East, rejecting four drafts.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the escalating fighting included "ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces accompanied by intense air strikes, and the continued rocket fire towards Israel from Gaza."
"Civilians have borne the brunt of the current fighting from the outset," he said in his statement.
"I repeat my utter condemnation of the acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October. There is never any justification for the killing, injuring and abduction of civilians. I appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of those civilians held hostage by Hamas.
"I condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza and I am dismayed by reports that two-thirds of those who have been killed are women and children."
Guterres also underlined his fears "about the risk of a dangerous escalation beyond Gaza."
