US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has led 19 members of Congress in a letter to the Trump administration to urge it to stop the Israeli government’s starvation of Gaza and killing of Palestinians, Anadolu Agency reports.

“We are outraged at the weaponisation of humanitarian aid and escalating use of starvation as a weapon of war by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Instead of enabling the swift delivery of humanitarian aid, Israel is actively dismantling and weaponising it.”

“We reject the Israeli government’s new plan—backed by the Trump administration—to militarise food distribution and take full control of humanitarian operations in Gaza,” they said, adding the plan fails to meet basic international standards and has been rejected by UN officials.

“We cannot be silent,” they wrote.

“This current blockade is starving Palestinian civilians in violation of international law, and the militarisation of food will not help. We demand an immediate end to the blockade, an immediate resumption of unfettered humanitarian aid entry into Gaza, the restoration of US funding to UNRWA, and an immediate and lasting ceasefire. Any other path forward is a path toward greater hunger, famine, and death,” they added.