Cori Bush says ‘pauses’ aren’t enough, renews calls for Israel cease-fire

Progressive Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Thursday said “pauses” in the fighting between Israel and Hamas are not enough and renewed her call for a cease-fire.

Bush was joined by members of About Face, an organization representing veterans who are against war, as well as Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.).

Bush has been outspoken about calling for a cease-fire, pointing to the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed due to Israeli airstrikes.

The White House said earlier Thursday that Israel agreed to four-hour daily pauses in Gaza to allow civilians to flee areas of fighting, with President Biden saying there was “no possibility” of a formal cease-fire at the moment.

Bush said pauses in the fighting are not enough, explaining a four-hour pause in bombing is “inhumane and heartless.”

“We don’t want four hours. We don’t want 16 hours. We don’t want 22. We want a cease-fire now,” she said.

Veterans attending the press conference also took to the podium to demand a cease-fire, citing their experiences in the military as a reason for their stance.

“I’m a former Army captain and combat veteran who deployed to war in Afghanistan, believing that I was going to eradicate the threat, as politicians like to say, and improve security both for Afghans and for my own people here in the United States,” said veteran Brittany Ramos DeBarros. “What I actually did was participate in a war that killed tens of thousands of people and further destabilize a country that continues to suffer today.”

She blasted lawmakers for not supporting a cease-fire, saying those “who resist cease-fire in the name of security know nothing about war.”

Bush led a coalition of progressive representatives to call on Biden to work toward an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas last month and has faced criticism for her statements calling for an end of United States support for Israel.

Israel has upped its bombardment of Gaza in the weeks following Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis. The Israeli airstrikes, combined with a dwindling supply of food, water and fuel in Gaza, have prompted many humanitarian groups and world leaders to warn of a crisis unfolding in the territory.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said 10,818 Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been killed in the fighting so far.