Muslim and Jewish congressional staffers signed a letter on Thursday urging Congress to back a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in light of “antisemitism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian sentiment on the rise nationwide”, Huffpost reports.

The letter, which HuffPost has learned has been signed by 411 staffers, comes as a small handful of members speak out against the Biden administration’s approach to the conflict, the report states.

“Nationwide and in Congress, the voices calling for de-escalation and peace have been drowned out by those beating the drums of war. As Muslims and Jews, we are tired of reliving generational fears of genocide and ethnic cleansing,” the letter is quoted as saying.

The report adds: “Several staffers across multiple agencies, most of whom work on national security issues, previously told HuffPost they feared retaliation for speaking out against Biden’s policies towards the most recent conflict.”