Sen. Patty Murray called for a "humanitarian pause" in the Israel-Hamas war Thursday, joining President Joe Biden in shifting to that stance this week.
And on Friday, a rally outside Murray's downtown Seattle office urged the high-ranking Democrat, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, to support a full cease-fire and to block additional military aid to Israel.
Murray's decision to call for a pause came as Israel's military continued to bombard and advance into Hamas-run Gaza, following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on communities in Israel. The Oct. 7 attack killed about 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials, and more than 9,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza officials.
"I continue to believe that Hamas must be held accountable for the horrific terrorist attack it launched against Israel. And I fear for the innocent families caught in the crossfire," Murray said in a written statement. "From the Israeli civilians brutally attacked and taken hostage to Palestinian civilians who are in the midst of an escalating and increasingly dire humanitarian crisis, millions of lives are at stake."
She added, "I believe hostages taken by Hamas must absolutely be released and returned to their families safely. And I believe that a humanitarian pause in the fighting is necessary to save civilian lives and allow critical humanitarian aid to reach innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
That's the message Secretary of State Antony Blinken brought Friday on his third trip to Israel since the war began, reiterating U.S. support for Israel in the war while asking for a pause. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after meeting with Blinken, said Israel would refuse "a temporary cease-fire that doesn't include a return of our hostages" and said Israel's military would continue pressing ahead in the war with "all of its power."
Meanwhile, a rally by Jewish Voice for Peace-Seattle organized at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, where Murray has an office.
Dozens of people wearing black shirts with messages like "Not in our name" chained themselves together and blocked entrances to the building Friday morning, said Michael Grant, a JVP-Seattle spokesperson. Demonstrators hung a "Murray: Ceasefire Now" banner above an entrance. A few hundred people joined speeches, songs and chants to protest against the war, U.S. military aid to Israel and the root causes of "occupation and apartheid," Grant said.
"As a Jew and a mother, supporting an immediate cease-fire and the safe return of hostages are naturally part of my commitment to combating antisemitism, Islamophobia and the dehumanization of Palestinians, Israelis, Muslims and Jews," demonstrator Diana Dvora Falchuk said in a statement.
Friday's rally was the latest of many Israel-Hamas war demonstrations in the Seattle area by groups of people with varying perspectives, including rallies supporting Palestinians and rallies supporting Israel.
"This moment is like Israel's 9/11, and it is not the time for Israel to be pushed into a cease-fire," Randy Kessler of StandWithUs Northwest told a crowd of Israel supporters in Pioneer Square last weekend.
Democrats across the country and in Washington's congressional delegation have adopted a range of positions on the war in recent days and weeks.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, has called for "an immediate cease-fire, or at minimum, a cessation of hostilities so that millions of innocent civilians in Gaza are not suffering collective punishment for the terrorist actions of Hamas and so that sustained humanitarian aid can make its way into Gaza."
"Israel must stop this bombing. This is collective punishment & war crimes," Jayapal wrote Friday on the social platform X.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Bellevue, has said, "Israel must do all they can to make sure Hamas is never again able to carry out terrorist attacks" while also calling for "humanitarian pauses in fighting" and more efforts "to reduce the impacts of Israel's military campaign on the civilians of Gaza."
Biden has requested more than $14 billion in additional aid to Israel but opposes a package passed by House Republicans that would offset that aid with domestic cuts. Murray and other Senate Democrats have said they want aid for Israel and for Ukraine's war with Russia, plus aid for people in Gaza.
"Congress has a duty and a moral responsibility to quickly pass legislation that would provide urgently needed humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza ... as well as security assistance for Israel to defend its citizens against the continued terrorist threat posed by Hamas — and I am working to put together a bipartisan package to do just that right now," Murray said.
