(MENAFN) Senator Bernie Sanders called on Tuesday for the United States to cease its military assistance to the Israeli government, condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration for perpetrating atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

While Sanders affirmed that Israel has the "absolute right" to protect itself and confront the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, his statement, issued on the second anniversary of the Israeli conflict in Gaza, sharply criticized the Israeli leadership’s actions.

"Tragically, however, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his extremist government did not simply go to war against Hamas terrorists. Instead, they unleashed an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people. The horrors of that war cannot be overstated," Sanders stated.

In a region with a population of 2.2 million, Sanders highlighted that over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, and nearly 170,000 have sustained injuries.

He held Israel’s blockade responsible for exacerbating starvation and deepening the humanitarian crisis.

Sanders also voiced backing for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) charges against Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, for war crimes.

"The United States can no longer be complicit in this horrific tragedy. We must stop providing military support to the Netanyahu government. "We must secure a lasting ceasefire that stops the killing, brings the remaining hostages home, allows for a massive surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza and provides Palestinians with a path towards a state of their own," he concluded.

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