Oakland City Council calls for Israel-Gaza ceasefire

The Oakland, Calif., City Council on Monday approved a resolution calling on Congress to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the region.

The council approved the resolution unanimously, CBS reported. The resolution itself attempted to recognize the fatalities on both sides without backing one belligerent over the other. Prior to adopting the resolution, the council heard nearly five hours of public comment on the resolution, according to The Messenger.

Some speakers sought to amend the resolution to explicitly condemn the Hamas terror group while others vehemently opposed such a move. City Councilor Dan Kalb's proposed amendment to do so was rejected 6-2.

Footage from the meeting showed several speakers either explicitly endorsing Hamas or denying that the terror group was solely responsible for the fatalities during the Oct. 7 raid that kicked off the conflict. Hamas forces, on that day, stormed Israeli border towns, seized more than 200 hostages, and killed 1,200 civilians.

Overall, speakers endorsed a range of views on the matter.

"What we're concerned about is, calling for an immediate cease-fire without the return of the hostages home while Hamas is still in power just doesn't really add up," Jewish Community Resource Center CEO Tyler Gregory said. "We're asking that a cease-fire include a return of all the Israeli hostages that Hamas kidnapped and that we remove terrorism — Hamas — from control of Gaza. We need to get back to peace building, peacemaking and that's not going to happen with a terrorist organization."

"Nobody's condoning what Hamas did. But what we are saying is the disproportionate, violent, and I would say, genocidal response from the Israeli government is what has to stop right now. And that's what a cease-fire will do, and both sides have to agree to a cease-fire," Jewish Voice for Peace protester Ellen Brotsky said.

Fighting has been temporarily paused due to a Qatar-brokered deal to secure a temporary ceasefire in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages from the Oct. 7 raid in batches. Israel has insisted the deal does not signal a willingness to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.