On Monday, a US Army officer announced his resignation in protest of Washington’s backing for Israel’s attack in Gaza.
Harrison Mann, a Defense Intelligence Agency official, stated in his resignation letter, which he posted on LinkedIn, that the United States’ “nearly unqualified support” for Israel “enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”
Mann stated that his efforts “unquestionably contributed to that support,” adding, “This has caused me incredible shame and guilt.”
“This unconditional support also encourages reckless escalation that risks a wider war,” he stated.
Last month, Hala Rharrit, the US State Department’s Middle East and North Africa spokesperson, resigned in protest over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy.
According to her LinkedIn page, Rharrit has worked at the State Department in a variety of jobs since 2005, and she has been the Middle East and North Africa spokesman since August 2022.
She is the third State Department official to resign publicly since October 7, following Annelle Sheline, a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, who announced her resignation last month, and Josh Paul, former director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, who announced his resignation on October 19.
Israel has launched a military incursion in Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian organization Hamas on October 7, which killed over 1,200 Palestinians.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been murdered; the majority of them are women and children, with 78,700 more injured as a result of widespread damage and chronic shortages of basic goods.
According to the UN, almost seven months into Israel’s assault, broad areas of Gaza were in ruins, forcing 85% of the enclave’s people into internal displacement amid a severe siege of food, clean water, and medication.
Israel is accused of “genocide” by the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure that its forces do not commit genocide and to take steps to ensure that residents in Gaza get humanitarian aid.