US Officials Who Have Resigned in Protest over Biden’s Gaza Policy

Destroyed buildings seen as the Israeli army issues an evacuation order, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 July 2024.  (EPA)
Destroyed buildings seen as the Israeli army issues an evacuation order, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 July 2024. (EPA)
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US Officials Who Have Resigned in Protest over Biden’s Gaza Policy

Destroyed buildings seen as the Israeli army issues an evacuation order, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 July 2024.  (EPA)
Destroyed buildings seen as the Israeli army issues an evacuation order, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 02 July 2024. (EPA)

President Joe Biden's support for Israel during its nearly nine-month war in Gaza has spurred a dozen US administration officials to quit, with some accusing him of turning a blind eye to Israeli atrocities in the Palestinian enclave.

The Biden administration denies this, pointing to its criticism of civilian casualties in Gaza and its efforts to boost humanitarian aid to the enclave, where health officials say nearly 38,000 have been killed in Israel's assault which has also led to widespread hunger.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Here are the US officials who have resigned:

Maryam Hassanein, who was a special assistant at the Department of Interior, quit her job on Tuesday. She slammed Biden's foreign policy, describing it as "genocide-enabling" and dehumanizing toward Arabs and Muslims. Israel denies genocide allegations.

Mohammed Abu Hashem, a Palestinian American, said last month he ended a 22-year career in the US Air Force. He said he lost relatives in Gaza in the ongoing war, including an aunt killed in an Israeli air strike in October.

Riley Livermore, who was a US Air Force engineer, said in mid-June that he was leaving his role. "I don't want to be working on something that can turn around and be used to slaughter innocent people," he told the Intercept news website.

Stacy Gilbert, who served in the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, left in late May. She said she resigned over an administration report to Congress that she said falsely stated Israel was not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Alexander Smith, a contractor for USAID, quit in late May, alleging censorship after the US foreign aid agency canceled publication of his presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians. The agency said it had not gone through proper review and approval.

Lily Greenberg Call, a Jewish political appointee, resigned in May, having served as a special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department. "As a Jew, I cannot endorse the Gaza catastrophe," she wrote in the Guardian.

Anna Del Castillo, a deputy director at the White House's Office of Management and Budget, departed in April and became the first known White House official to leave the administration over policy toward Gaza.

Hala Rharrit, an Arabic language spokesperson for the State Department, departed her post in April in opposition to the United States' Gaza policy, she wrote on her LinkedIn page.

Annelle Sheline resigned from the State Department's human rights bureau in late March, writing in a CNN article that she was unable to serve a government that "enables such atrocities."

Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American, quit as special assistant in the Education Department's office of planning in January. He said the Biden administration was turning a "blind eye" to atrocities in Gaza.

Harrison Mann, a US Army major and Defense Intelligence Agency official, resigned in November over Gaza policy and went public with his reasons in May.

Josh Paul, director of the State Department's bureau of political military affairs, left in October in the first publicly known resignation, citing what he described as Washington's "blind support" for Israel.



Iranians Fear Trump Comeback will Bring Them More Pain

A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP
A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP
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Iranians Fear Trump Comeback will Bring Them More Pain

A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP
A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP

When Donald Trump was last in the White House, he pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran, including punishing sanctions.

Now that he is set to begin another term as US president in January, anxiety is mounting in Tehran that more of the same will follow.

During Trump's first term, the United States also killed a revered Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general in an airstrike on Baghdad airport in Iraq.
"It will be harmful for Iran," said 37-year-old Bashir Abbaspour, who works at a private company, reflecting widespread concern in Iran as news broke on Wednesday of Trump's victory.

His win came with the Middle East in turmoil after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.

Iranians best remember Trump for his campaign of intensified sanctions and Washington's 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal that offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.

The deal's collapse took a toll on ordinary Iranians grappling with galloping inflation and a sharp depreciation of the rial against the US dollar.

"The sanctions will increase, and with that, the prices will too. It's not a good thing for Iran," Abbaspour said of Trump's comeback.

Washington officially broke off relations with Tehran a year after the Islamic revolution in 1979, and ties have been frozen ever since.

- 'No difference' -

On Wednesday, the conservative Jam-e Jam newspaper featured front-page pictures of the two main US candidates, the Republican Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, with two demons depicted looming behind them.

"The result of the US elections will make no difference for us," read the daily's main headline, citing Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Reza Aram, a 51-year-old insurance agent, agreed. He said Washington's attitude towards Iran "won't change", regardless of who is president there.

"Iran's relations (with the US) will be the same (with Trump) as with Democrats," he said.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in Iran in July, has said he sought to shore up ties with West and revive the nuclear deal and end Iran's isolation.

But in recent weeks, Araghchi has said indirect nuclear talks with the United States have stopped because of regional tensions.

On October 1, Iran fired around 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

In April, in its first ever direct assault on Israeli territory, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in response to a deadly strike on its consulate in Damascus, which it blamed on Israel.

- 'Under pressure' -

During Trump's first term, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, called him "unbalanced" and "foul-mouthed" as he addressed laughing crowds in Tehran.

When in 2020 Trump ordered the killing of Iran's esteemed IRGC general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, Tehran responded by attacking bases housing US troops in Iraq.

In the months leading up to Tuesday's vote in the United States, American officials charged that Iran was attempting to interfere in the elections, and Trump accused Tehran of posing "big threats" to his life.

On July 13, after a gunman wounded Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, US media reported that authorities had received intelligence about an alleged Iranian plot against him.

Iran roundly denied the accusations as "malicious".

Now, with Trump due to be back in office soon and with memories of his previous term still fresh, Iranians find themselves left with little but hope for better days ahead.

"I'm worried right now about the situation of the country and its economy," said 56-year-old Zahra Eghbali. "People are under pressure."

"Both sides should come to an agreement that is to the benefit of the people."