WASHINGTON 

The resignation of Stacy Gilbert, a senior official from the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, is the latest publicly announced departure from the US government in protest against the Biden administration's policy concerning Israel's war on Gaza.

The Washington Post reported that Gilbert sent an e-mail Tuesday to State Department staff saying a report submitted to Congress earlier this month in response to President Joe Biden issuing a national security memorandum (NSM-20) in early February was "wrong" to conclude that Israel had not obstructed the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The report was required under the Feb. 8 National Security Memorandum signed by Biden, which stipulates that countries receiving US military assistance are required to give Washington assurances that US-supplied weapons will be used in compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The highly anticipated report concluded that it is "reasonable to assess" that Israel used US-made weapons in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law but stopped short of reaching a definitive conclusion, citing a lack of evidence.

Gilbert is the fourth State Department official to resign publicly since Oct. 7.

Asked by Anadolu about Gilbert's resignation, a State Department spokesperson speaking on condition of anonymity said: "We do not comment on personnel issues, but we have made clear we welcome diverse points of view and believe it makes us stronger."

"The Secretary and other Department leadership will continue to seek out a wide range of views because we believe it improves our policy making process," the spokesperson said.

"We continue to press the government of Israel to avoid harming civilians and urgently expand humanitarian access to and inside Gaza. This includes facilitating the provision of life-saving assistance, allowing fuel entry, and ensuring safe freedom of movement for humanitarian workers."

Numerous officials have publicly announced their resignations in protest of Biden's Gaza policy, including a senior Palestinian-American official in the Education Department and a Jewish appointee at the US Interior Department.

Josh Paul

Josh Paul, who worked for more than 11 years as the director of congressional and public affairs at the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which oversees arms transfers to foreign nations, publicly announced his resignation in a two-page letter.

He expressed his desire for the protection of innocent people -- Israeli and Palestinian.

"I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued -- indeed, expanded and expedited -- provision of lethal arms to Israel, I have reached the end of that bargain," said Paul, citing the Biden administration's support for Israel in its response to an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

"Let me be clear: Hamas' attack on Israel was not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities," he said. "But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and Palestinian people and is not in the long-term American interest."

"Blind support for one side is destructive in the long term to the interests of the people on both sides," he added.

Tariq Habash

Tariq Habash, a Department of Education political appointee, resigned on Jan. 4 in protest against the administration's failure to halt Israel's "ongoing collective punishment tactics" against Palestinians in Gaza.

"I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government," he wrote.

Habash, who served three years as a special assistant in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, was the sole Palestinian-American appointee at the agency.

"I cannot be quietly complicit as this administration fails to leverage its influence as Israel’s strongest ally to halt the abusive and ongoing collective punishment tactics that have cut off Palestinians in Gaza from food, water, electricity, fuel and medical supplies, leading to widespread disease and starvation," he said.

Annelle Sheline

Annelle Sheline, 38, a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, resigned on March 27, accusing the administration of enabling atrocities in Gaza.

She wrote in an article for CNN that she was "unable to serve an administration that enables such atrocities" and resigned before the conclusion of a two-year contract.

"As a representative of a government that is directly enabling what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be a genocide in Gaza, such work has become almost impossible," she said. "Whatever credibility the United States had as an advocate for human rights has almost entirely vanished since the war began.”

Hala Rharrit

Hala Rharrit, the State Department's spokeswoman for the Middle East and North Africa, resigned on April 25.

“I resigned in April 2024 after 18 years of distinguished service in opposition to the United States’ Gaza policy. Diplomacy, not arms. Be a force for peace and unity,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Rharrit has worked in various roles at the State Department and was a spokesperson since August 2022, according to her LinkedIn page.

Harrison Mann

Harrison Mann, an Army major recently assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency, resigned on May 15 and said in his resignation letter published on LinkedIn that the US's "nearly unqualified support" for Israel "enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”

Stating that his work "unquestionably contributed to that support," Mann, who comes from a Jewish family of European origin, said: "This has caused me incredible shame and guilt.”

"This unconditional support also encourages reckless escalation that risks wider war,” he added.

Lily Greenberg Call

Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the US Department of the Interior, announced on May 16 that she resigned because of the administration's support for Israel's attacks on Gaza.

The Jewish American, who was appointed by Biden, said she joined the administration for "a better America,” adding: "I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration."

Call said she has spent her entire life in the Jewish community in the US and Israel and people in her community lost loved ones during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 last year, which killed around 1,200 people while hundreds were taken to Gaza as hostages.

Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday that the death toll hit 35,233 with nearly 80,000 injured.

“And yet I am certain that the answer to this is not to collectively punish millions of innocent Palestinians through displacement, famine and ethnic cleansing,” Call wrote. “Israel's ongoing offensive against Palestinians does not keep Jewish people safe — in Israel nor in the United States.”