NEW YORK, Nov. 13 – Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) visited the United Nations today in order to hear directly from key leaders about urgent efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and end the unacceptably high loss of civilian lives. The two senators from Vermont met with Secretary-General of the U.N. António Guterres, the Permanent Representative of Israel to the U.N. H.E. Gilad Erdan, the Ambassador of the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the U.N. H.E. Riyad H. Mansour, and the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the U.N. H.E. Osama Mahmoud Abdel Khalek Mahmoud.

The senators stated: “Today, at the United Nations, we were able to hear different perspectives about the crisis in Gaza. Our goal remains to do everything we can to stop the indiscriminate bombing which has caused massive civilian casualties, bring in desperately needed humanitarian aid, and protect innocent people in Gaza. This is a humanitarian catastrophe and we need action now.”

“In our meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Guterres, we expressed condolences on the loss of over 100 U.N. relief workers in Gaza and applauded the courage of U.N. personnel who continue to do life-saving work under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”

Sanders today also spoke to Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Representative to the U.N., and senior members of the USUN team.