WASHINGTON: Two top US officials — secretaries for state and defence — indicated on Friday that Washington was not backing the demand for a ceasefire, days after a White House spokesperson described calls for a ceasefire as ‘repugnant’.

At a news briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to a question about certain progressive lawmakers calling for a ceasefire and de-escalation of violence.

“I’ve seen some of those statements this weekend. We’re going to continue to be very clear. We believe they’re wrong. We believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful,” she said.

The White House’s reaction followed statements by some progressive lawmakers, demanding an end to violence.

“Calling for a ceasefire is repugnant, why?” asked Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US and the United Nations. “To give Israel a licence to bomb civilians and commit war crimes?”

“The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanising conditions that can lead to resistance,” said Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in US Congress.

Summer Lee, a congresswoman from Pennsylvania, said: “We need urgent de-escalation and an end to this tragic cycle of violence. To achieve this, we must bring an end to the occupation and help broker a just and lasting peace.”

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said, “As we honour the humanity of the hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians and nine Americans who were killed this weekend, we must honor the humanity of the innocent Palestinian civilians who have been killed and whose lives are upended.”

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2023