The left-wing activists, including actress Cynthia Nixon, said they launched their five-day hunger strike on Monday to “showcase the actions of [American] President [Joe] Biden” and to pressure him into demanding a permanent ceasefire in the war-ravaged coastal sliver.
The four-day Qatari-brokered ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas went into effect on Friday and was extended for two more days on Monday following mediation from Egypt and Qatar.
Over the initial four-day pause, 50 Israeli hostages were freed in return for 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A news conference was held at the protest rally in front of the White House and speaker after speaker represented pro-Palestinian causes lined up to denounce Biden and his senior officials. They also lambasted the US president’s administration for enabling a brutal bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza.
“We are taking this action of hunger striking to showcase the actions of President Biden,” said Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic state representative from New York. “It’s President Biden’s actions that are leading to the bombing of Palestinians, the starving of Palestinians. So we are starving ourselves to make visible what is so often erased, which is the Palestinian experience.”
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