WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) today joined Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in leading 20 of their Senate colleagues in releasing the following statement: 

“We condemn Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks against Israel, for which Israel must hold Hamas accountable. In the course of that endeavor, every effort must be made to protect innocent civilians. Right now, hospitals in Gaza are hours away from running out of fuel that powers ventilators, incubators for babies, and other lifesaving equipment, and diseases are rapidly spreading without power to treat and pump clean drinking water. To prevent a potential health crisis and help save countless lives, we believe it is possible to transport fuel directly to these hospitals, desalination plants, and water pumping stations with full transparency to prevent diversion to Hamas. There are extensive oversight mechanisms in place that will track the fuel deliveries directly to the intended sites where they can be used immediately to prevent the deaths of innocent civilians, including babies and children. We encourage the Biden administration to work with our Israeli, Egyptian, and UN partners to enable these lifesaving deliveries.” 

Senators Welch, Murphy, Van Hollen, Schatz and Merkley are joined by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tom Carper (D-DE.), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Angus King (I-Maine), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tina Smith (D-ME) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM). 

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