House votes to ban State Department from citing Gaza Health Ministry death toll statistics – Washington Examiner
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an amendment that prohibits the State Department from using death statistics provided by the Gaza Health Ministry. The amendment, which garnered bipartisan support with a vote of 269-144, will be a part of the State Department Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2025. This move was spearheaded by Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Carol Miller (R-WV). The article also references a specific incident, showcasing a photo of a woman mourning her daughter Zena Naser, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
The House passed an amendment to ban the State Department from citing death statistics used by the Gaza Health Ministry.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted in favor of the amendment, 269-144, which would be added to the State Department Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2025. It was led by Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Carol Miller (R-WV).
The figures of the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Gaza government run by Hamas, have been highly controversial, with U.S. and Israeli sources accusing the ministry of inflating the numbers to harm Israel’s reputation.
The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it has said most of those killed have been civilians. Israeli analysts, however, said that about half of those killed are Hamas militants.
The amendment was met with harsh criticism by progressive Democrats, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) decrying it as “genocide denial.”
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“It’s disgusting that my colleagues would support legislation to prohibit U.S. officials from even citing the Palestinian death toll,” she said. “They want to erase the Palestinians who are living, and now they are trying to erase the Palestinians who are dead. This is genocide denial.”
It’s disgusting that my colleagues would support legislation to prohibit U.S. officials from even citing the Palestinian death toll.
They want to erase the Palestinians who are living, and now they are trying to erase the Palestinians who are dead. This is genocide denial. pic.twitter.com/ZY3x0BIlQ0
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) June 27, 2024
The World Health Organization said it believes the findings of the ministry.
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