Tlaib calls on Congress to recognize genocide in Gaza

Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News on Nov 14, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Michigan U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is leading a resolution in Congress officially "recognizing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza" with the support of 20 House Democratic members and over 100 organizations.

The resolution is unlikely to advance in the Republican-led House, where most lawmakers support Israel. Israel has vehemently denied allegations of genocide.

The measure calls for the U.S. government to take action in response to the situation in Gaza, in part by ending the transfer of weapons and other equipment to Israel, imposing targeted sanctions and using the United States' "voice and vote" in the United Nations Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly to press efforts to "prevent and punish" genocide in Gaza.

“The Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza has not ended, and it will not end until we act. Since the so-called ‘ceasefire’ was announced, Israeli forces haven’t stopped killing Palestinians,”Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, said in a statement.

“Impunity only enables more atrocity. As our government continues to send a blank check for war crimes and ethnic cleansing, Palestinian children’s smiles are extinguished by bombs and bullets that say made in the USA," she added.

"To end this horror, we must reject genocide denial and follow our binding legal obligations under the Genocide Convention to take immediate action to pursue justice and accountability to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. We must hold individual perpetrators and complicit corporations to account."

The measure comes just over a month after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect Oct. 10, with its first phase approaching its end. The next stage calls for the implementation of a governing body for Gaza and the deployment of an international stabilization force, though The Associated Press reported this week that it's unclear where either stands.

The text of Tlaib's resolution says over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, roughly 90% of Gaza’s population has been forcibly displaced and many there have faced food insecurity or famine in the last year. It also quotes Israeli leaders as evidence of "genocidal intent."

Israel has faced accusations of genocide from groups including a United Nations commission of inquiry and a case before the International Court of Justice, and has dismissed the allegations as based on unverified evidence, bias and a political agenda, emphasizing its right to defend its people.

The Israeli military began its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

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