Resource Type: Statement

Israel’s Abrogation of the Gaza Ceasefire Should Be Universally Condemned

(WASHINGTON, DC) — In response to Israel’s resumption of the bombardment of Gaza, Center for International Policy Vice President for Government Affairs Dylan Williams issued the following statement:

“Israel’s unilateral abrogation of the Gaza hostage release and ceasefire agreement should be universally and unequivocally condemned. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to move to the second of the three phases in the framework agreed in January. Fearing that the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory and moving toward a permanent end to the war could bring down his extremist government, Netanyahu has demanded different terms to avoid upholding Israel’s end of the deal.

“In response to Hamas’ insistence that both sides adhere to the agreement, Netanyahu ordered the reimposition of a full siege on Gaza, blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies into the territory for weeks. With the resumption of massive bombardment of the territory last night – strikes which have reportedly killed and maimed hundreds of civilians, including many small children – Netanyahu has now fully and unilaterally broken the ceasefire, betraying Israel’s own hostage families and once again condemning millions of Palestinians in Gaza to untold death and suffering.

“President Donald Trump also bears considerable responsibility for the resumption of war in Gaza. While Trump’s team had an early success in assisting the administration of former President Joe Biden in negotiating the hostage release and ceasefire, he has since enabled this massive failure in his own diplomacy through a series of brazen missteps.

“Trump’s obscene proposal for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, his transfer of billions of dollars in American taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel in violation of US laws like the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, and his backing of Netanyahu’s demands to rewrite the agreement that Trump’s own team helped to negotiate make him a full partner in this bloodshed. The resumption of hostilities between the United States and the Houthis in Yemen and the Red Sea also speaks to how completely Trump has botched his own stated goal of ending fighting and advancing diplomacy in the region.

“US lawmakers and one-time partner countries not beholden to Trump should take all due steps to stop the fighting, restore the path to a permanent ceasefire, and hold all officials responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable for their actions. Americans and citizens of other countries that have provided weapons or diplomatic cover should realize the grievous harm that abetting Israel’s assault on Gaza has done not just to Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostage families, but to the rule of law both internationally and – with rapidly advancing restrictions on free speech and due process in response to criticism of Israel – in their own countries.

“It’s time for all who value human security and basic decency to say enough is enough and bring real pressure to bear on Israel and its enablers to stop this carnage.”

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Israel Abrogates Ceasefire Framework with Gaza Siege

(WASHINGTON, DC) — In response to Israel’s imposition of a full siege on Gaza and refusal to proceed with the ceasefire and hostage release framework agreed in January, Center for International Policy executive vice-president Matt Duss issued the following statement:

“Israel is refusing to proceed to the second phase of the three-phase ceasefire and hostage release framework it agreed to with Hamas in the final days of the Biden Administration. 

“Rather than abide by this framework to ensure the release of all remaining living hostages and an end to the Gaza war, Israel has instituted a full siege on the territory, blocking all humanitarian aid and other goods in violation of U.S. and international law.

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly signaled his unwillingness to fully adhere to the January agreement, which he had resisted accepting for more than half a year. Now emboldened by President Donald Trump’s unconscionable proposal to forcibly displace the population of Gaza and ‘take over’ the territory, Netanyahu is resuming the starvation of its people and threatening the resumption of full-scale hostilities.

“Meanwhile, the Trump administration is speeding billions of dollars in new high-yield bombs to Israel as it not only threatens ethnic cleansing in Gaza, but turns a blind eye to Israel’s open forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians from entire swaths of the West Bank. In stark contrast to a promising start in facilitating the three-phase framework in January, Trump now risks reigniting a horrific war that will not only put his entire diplomatic agenda for the Middle East in jeopardy, but bring untold further suffering to millions.

“U.S. lawmakers and the international community must press Israel to end its renewed siege of Gaza and take all available steps to avert the resumption of fighting in the territory. This is a dangerous moment in world events when expansionist national leaders are increasingly willing to obliterate international law and countless lives to achieve their ambitions. Trump’s support for Netanyahu’s abrogation of the Gaza ceasefire framework further undermines confidence in the United States’s ability to broker and stand by international agreements, including in the context of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. With the American President on the side of annexationists and autocrats, those who seek peace must be consistent in defending human security and the rule of law.”

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Instead of Needed Reductions, Trump’s Pentagon “Cuts” are Actually Harmful Reallocations

In response to the Trump administration’s proposed reallocations within and from the Pentagon budget, Center for International Policy president and CEO Nancy Okail issued the following statement:

“Cutting out-of-control Pentagon spending should be a top priority. A good-faith process of reducing our military budget to actually align with U.S. interests would contribute greatly to a more secure world and a healthier, more equitable and more competitive America.

“What the Trump Administration has proposed is not that. It is merely a ‘reallocation’ — yet another scam to harm marginalized communities, trash the environment, and erode basic rights while redirecting taxpayer dollars to further enrich favored defense contractors and Trump’s billionaire backers.

“As with its other assaults on agencies across the U.S. government, the administration is falsely scapegoating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives alongside efforts to combat climate change as top causes of waste. Targeting these modest yet important programs as a priority for cost savings at what is arguably the world’s most bloated bureaucracy defies credulity. 

“It is also not clear there will actually be any cost savings, as what the administration first touted as budget reductions or were just hours later described as ‘offsets’ or ‘reallocations’ that would exempt large swaths of spending and pay for massive new projects and weapons systems. These include boondoggles like a fantastical domestic ‘Iron Dome’ missile defense system and new nuclear weapons that arms experts believe are not only unnecessary, but are so dangerous that they could trigger an accidental nuclear war. Unsurprisingly, many of the companies that stand to make a taxpayer-funded fortune from these wasteful new schemes are headed by wealthy backers of President Trump.

“Trump’s reallocation proposal is little more than a cup-and-ball grift that will continue taxpayer-funded waste at the Pentagon, shuffling it to the personal benefit of Trump and his billionaire associates, while worsening the security threats faced by the United States. A serious process of right-sizing military spending is desperately overdue. Countries that have prioritized their people above their arms industry’s profit margins are outpacing us in health, education, infrastructure, economic competitiveness and overall quality of life. 

“While these false cuts are a huge missed opportunity that abandon the powerful anti-war and anti-status quo sentiments that Trump successfully leveraged in his presidential campaign, they also demonstrate that Pentagon reductions are not the third rail they are often believed to be. Pentagon bloat makes us less safe and there is no shortage of serious plans for strategic reductions that improve human security. Lawmakers and other policy professionals should therefore not merely oppose Trump’s fake cuts, but also present an ambitious and feasible plan for genuine transformations that prioritize the pressing needs of American citizens while ensuring their security.”

For additional analysis related to military spending, check out Center for International Policy’s Climate and Militarism Program (CAMP) and Security Assistance Monitor (SAM).

Trump Would Make America Greater by Reducing Pentagon Spending, Nuclear Weapons

In response to President Trump’s comments suggesting denuclearization and reducing defense spending in line with Russia and China, Center for International Policy executive vice-president Matt Duss issued the following statement:

“If Trump is serious about significantly reducing nuclear arsenals and Pentagon spending in step with Russia and China — lawmakers and civil society should stand ready to help do it right, thereby improving national security and human security in the US and globally.

There is no good reason to continue our current trajectory of proliferating nuclear weapons and ever-increasing defense budgets, half of which goes to giant defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing, with minimal transparency or accountability. This practice has raised numerous concerns regarding waste and corruption. It is primarily greed, self-interest and a lack of political will that propagates the nearly $1 trillion –half of our discretionary budget—that goes annually to these programs. These spending levels make us less, not more, secure by making conflict more likely and fueling the flawed strategy of American hegemony behind so many of the costly US foreign policy boondoggles of the 21st century and the nuclear near-misses of the last 80 years.

The Trump administration has not always made good on past pledges –including a similar suggestion in his first term— and many of the promises upon which he’s acted do great damage, but this is a promise he should keep for the good of Americans and people around the world.”

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US Sanctions on ICC Undermine Rule of Law Everywhere

(Washington, D.C.) – In response to President Trump’s imposition of U.S. sanctions on International Criminal Court officials and their families  – and potentially foreign nationals who assist them – the Center for International Policy’s Vice President of Government Affairs Dylan Williams issued the following statement:

“Donald Trump’s reimposition of sanctions on ICC officials continues his march to make America a pariah state. In penalizing and hampering the court’s work, Trump is openly undermining its ability to prosecute and deter war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sanctioning court officials, their family members and potentially even the officials of friendly countries provides succor to brutal dictators, aggressors and other human rights abusers around the world whom he admires.

“It is not a coincidence that Trump’s move against the ICC comes just hours after he proposed that the United States carry out a crime against humanity in Gaza, while standing next to a man wanted by the court to answer for war crimes in that territory. The objective of attacking the court is to ensure absolute impunity for those, like both of them, who seek to act unrestrained by any law. 

“This latest assault by Trump on the rule of law should be resisted by seeking more, not less, accountability for those who incite, enable or commit atrocities. States that are party to the Rome Statute should reaffirm and carry out their obligations with respect to the court, including the consistent enforcement of its duly issued warrants and orders.

“American lawmakers should treat this attack on a judicial body and its officers as they do Trump’s efforts to destroy domestic institutions of justice, independent of the fact that they may disagree with certain rulings or actions of such bodies. Defending the legitimacy of the ICC is an inseparable part of the fight to protect the rule of law in the United States and around the world from the forces of autocracy and oligarchy. Those who fail to firmly oppose Trump’s attack on the court – or worse, support it – are proving themselves to be only fair-weather friends to democracy and human rights at best, or complicit in their destruction outright.”

Trump’s Executive Actions on Middle East Undermine US Interests and His Own Promises

(Washington, D.C.) – In response to President Donald Trump’s executive actions on Tuesday to deny U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA); again withdraw the United States from the UN Human Rights Council; and reinstate “maximum pressure” policies on Iran, the Center for International Policy’s Vice President for Government Affairs Dylan Williams issued the following statement:

“While overshadowed by his appalling comments proposing that the United States undertake ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the cruel and destabilizing actions on Middle East policy taken yesterday by President Trump also risk reigniting large-scale conflict in the region and hamstringing his chances of achieving the major diplomatic deals he has spoken about seeking. While these steps to deny Palestinian civilians critical humanitarian aid, undermine human rights and impoverish the Iranian people may be intended as a gift basket to visiting Israeli Prime Minister and wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, they are in fact a series of self-defeating moves that undermine U.S. interests in the Middle East and around the world.

“Trump’s move to extend the U.S. defunding of UNRWA without offering any plan or resources for replacing its critical functions is as harmful to Middle East stability as it is inhumane. It is unconscionable to deny civilians who have suffered the horrors of months of siege, displacement and bombardment in Gaza and ongoing violence and deprivation in the West Bank basic supplies and services. Governments throughout the region, including those that are key U.S. and Israeli security partners, will further struggle to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees in their territory, opening the door to rising tensions and unrest.

“Relatedly, once again withdrawing the United States from the UN Human Rights Council sends a clear signal of unaccountability for violations of international law to every dictator, warlord and rights abuser in the world. At a moment when protecting civilian rights and respect for the rule of law are rightly being touted as red lines in places like Lebanon and Syria, the United States is acting to delegitimize the work of those tasked by the international community to uphold those rules. It advances the assault by far-right autocrats against multilateral institutions and norms, further undermining an international system that the Global South already regards as profoundly inconsistent and unsustainable.

“Likewise, Trump’s return to the failed ‘maximum pressure’ policy with Iran – apparently against his own reservations – embraces the foolhardy anti-diplomacy, pro-war positions of former advisors like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, whose approach blew up any chance Trump had of getting a new anti-nuclear deal with Iran. Thanks to U.S. sanctions and belligerent moves after Trump’s breach of the Iran deal in his first term, as well as the Biden Administration’s decision to add to those sanctions and not take advantage of an early diplomatic window for restoring the agreement, Iran is now closer to being able to obtain nuclear weapons than ever before. Trump seemed to understand that he was given bad advice in his first administration, but is now making the same mistake again, despite promising his supporters he prioritizes avoiding wars of choice. Unfortunately, millions in the region – including thousands of American soldiers and other personnel – may end up paying the price for that mistake.”

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Trump’s Suggested Gaza Takeover Would Be Crime Against Humanity

In response to comments by President Donald Trump on Gaza following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Center for International Policy President and CEO Nancy Okail issued the following statement:

“President Trump’s comments proposing that the Gaza Strip’s population be permanently relocated and that the United States ‘take over’ the territory is nothing less than an open call for the commission of a crime against humanity. 

“It is unconscionable that a United States President would promote the forcible displacement of a population and acquisition of territory in the 21st century. These are ideas from the darkest chapters of history and an affront to human rights, the rule of law and basic decency.

“His comments proposing ethnic cleansing should be unequivocally rejected and condemned by world leaders and American lawmakers regardless of party. They should also serve as one of the most undeniable warnings yet that Donald Trump, if left unchecked, poses a catastrophic threat to international and human security.”

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Trump’s Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Comments are Appalling

The Center for International Policy’s Executive Vice President Matt Duss issued the following statement in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments proposing to “just clean out” the Gaza Strip of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians:

“Donald Trump’s comments explicitly advocating for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip are appalling and should be universally condemned. In making clear that he has been pressing U.S. partner governments on the idea, Trump is using the office of the American presidency to openly advocate for a crime against humanity.

The office of Palestinian president and the Jordanian government have already made clear that they reject any such proposal, and we hope other countries, as well as American lawmakers, swiftly do the same. We also hope that the international community will make absolutely clear to President Trump that by expressly pushing for the forcible transfer of population from Gaza, he risks violating international law, including the Rome Statute’s prohibition on aiding, abetting or assisting the commission or attempted commission of a crime against humanity.”

Long-Overdue Ceasefire a Bitter Relief After Netanyahu’s Obstruction

In response to reports that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release framework has been agreed between Israel and Hamas, the Center for International Policy’s President & CEO Nancy Okail issued the following statement from Jerusalem:

“It is a bitter relief that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally accepted a long-overdue phased Gaza ceasefire and hostage release framework that has been on the table and endorsed by the rest of the world for more than half a year. It is an outrage that he obstructed and delayed this agreement, first characterized by President Joe Biden as an Israeli proposal, while thousands of Palestinian civilians died and Israeli hostages held since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks were killed or remained in captivity.

“The fact that Netanyahu is finally accepting the deal mere days before his favored candidate in the recent U.S. presidential election will return to the Oval Office is confirmation of what Israeli, Arab and even some U.S. officials involved in negotiations have been saying for months – that Netanyahu obstructed and delayed a ceasefire and hostage release to further his own personal political interests. Netanyahu’s acquiescence to Donald Trump’s insistence that a ceasefire be in place when he takes office next week ironically shows how effective actual pressure can be in changing Israeli government behavior. 

“It will forever be part of the legacy of President Biden and his top foreign policy advisors that they not only provided diplomatic cover for and enabled Netanyahu’s prolonging of this horrific war, but continued to arm Israeli atrocities against civilians in Gaza in clear violation of international and U.S. law. Thanks largely to his role in sustaining the carnage in Gaza, Biden hands over to Trump a foreign policy landscape in which international norms and U.S. credibility have been further eroded rather than strengthened.

“All parties must now adhere to the terms of this agreement, which only provides for a temporary ceasefire that requires further negotiations to extend, and work in good faith to ensure it is made permanent to ensure a sustainable cessation of hostilities. A massive humanitarian relief effort and steps to provide for administration and reconstruction of the territory must also begin in earnest with the backing of generous international assistance, including from the United States. All parties must also work to prevent deadly escalation from resuming elsewhere in the region, including between Israel and Iran.”

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The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a woman-led, progressive, independent nonprofit center for research, education, and advocacy working to advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable U.S. approach to foreign policy.

Biden Moves to Unwind Key Elements of Cruel and Ineffective US-Cuba Policy; Cuba Announces Release of Prisoners

In response to the announcement by the Biden administration will lift the state sponsor of terror designation from Cuba and take other steps to provide relief to the Cuban people from key U.S. restrictions, Center for International Policy senior non-resident fellow María José Espinosa issued the following statement:

“Steps like removing the state sponsor of terror designation on Cuba are welcome if long overdue moves to avoid deepening the humanitarian crisis on the island. Decades of bad Cuba policy are the poster child for what is wrong with the overuse of sanctions: the regime endures, ordinary people suffer and the United States’ reputation is tarnished around the world. The designation was little more than a cruel act of political theater. The work of the Vatican to facilitate the release of a substantial number of prisoners is also an extremely positive development, and an example of how coordinating with partners to engage with Cuba can achieve important results.”

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