gaza

In August, the Biden Administration approved a series of arms sales to Israel totaling more than $20 billion. Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) led by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT), Peter Welch (VT), Jeff Merkley (OR), and Brian Schatz (HI) would block the sale of many offensive weapons that, have been used in strikes that have killed thousands of civilians, including aid workers and journalists, in Gaza over the last year. 

FCNL joined with dozens of other organizations in writing a letter to Senators urging them to “cosponsor and vote in favor of the four joint resolutions of disapproval introduced by Senators Sanders, Welch, and Merkley regarding several specific major arms sales to the government of Israel.”

This week, FCNL’s Amelia Kegan joined “Nuns on the Bus and Friends” bus tour to mobilize people around the nation to vote for our future and support an inclusive democracy.

The nonpartisan voter education tour was organized by NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice. “We need everyone, building community, to help build this vision of the country where every person is free to fulfill their potential and truly flourish,” Amelia said.

On the one-year anniversary of the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, we took some time this week to reflect and mourn the lives lost and forever changed that day, and in all the days since. As we hold everyone impacted by this horrible violence in the Light, we know that war is not the answer.

We are holding everyone threatened by the escalating violence in Lebanon, Israel, and Gaza in the light. This is a frightening and volatile moment that demands restraint, reflection, and humanity.

They marched to the Capitol in the rain. Many held signs. Some pushed loved ones in wheelchairs. Others carried photos of those they’ve lost. All of them carried pain caused by radiation exposure.

Gaza isn’t starving. It’s being starved. Over two million Palestinian civilians face one of the world’s worst human-made humanitarian crises, with famine and disease spreading due to a lack of aid access. Amidst this catastrophe, the Biden administration and Congress halted all U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the largest aid operation in Gaza, until March 2025.

The people of Gaza aren’t starving. They are being starved. Over 2 million Palestinian civilians are facing a man-made humanitarian catastrophe, with famine and disease spreading due to a lack of aid access. At the same time, the Biden administration and Congress are withholding all U.S. funding for the largest aid operation in Gaza: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

On Thursday, a group of more than 60 legislators introduced critical new legislation to restore U.S. funding for UNRWA – the U.N. agency that’s leading aid operations in Gaza.

Despite the unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians, Congress and the Biden administration halted all funding for UNRWA after Israel alleged that a dozen of its 13,000 employees in Gaza may have been involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks.

Bridget Moix, general secretary for the group, added that cutting of funding was “simply unconscionable” because the U.S.—as the Israeli military’s largest international funder—bears responsibility for the “horrific violence and a massive humanitarian crisis” in Gaza. “UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip,” said Moix. “U.S. funding should be restored immediately.”