Texas Democrat urges Biden to call for Gaza cease-fire in State of the Union address

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is urging President Biden to call for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas during the State of the Union address Thursday evening, citing “war crimes” on both sides.

“I believe that Hamas had committed war crimes on Oct. 7. I think it’s become very clear that Israel has now committed war crimes. They are intentionally starving people, and there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who are starving,” Castro said early Thursday on CNN, highlighted by Mediaite.  

“So the president should absolutely call for a cease-fire tonight. The United States and the president and the Congress are either going to stand up for human rights, what the United States professes to believe in, and we do — or we’re going to stand down and do nothing and let these people starve,” he continued.

Biden will address both chambers of Congress on Thursday evening at a critical time for his campaign, ahead of a likely rematch with former President Trump in the general election.

He has faced increasing backlash from Democrats on his handling of the war in the Middle East. Progressives have criticized Biden for months for not calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

More than 45,000 Democratic primary voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted” on their primary ballots, as did more than 100,000 Democrats in Michigan, as a way to protest Biden’s actions since October.

In the interview, Castro said he hopes Biden will call for a cease-fire and “push back as hard as he can on Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The Texas Democrat said that he believes Hamas committed war crimes on Oct. 7 after “having watched the footage,” but he argued the “starvation of children and the suffering that has gone on” during Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza is also a war crime.

“Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is committing war crimes right now, and we have to face that,” Castro said.