By Joseph Edelen

DOVER — House lawmakers united on Thursday in recognition of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to support a permanent and immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War.

During Thursday’s session in the House of Representatives, Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, D-Newark, introduced a concurrent resolution to declare these ideals on behalf of the House chamber, which led to a unanimous voice vote in support of the measure.

In addition to its aforementioned clauses, House Concurrent Resolution 125 also calls for the release of all hostages, delivery of immediate and sustained humanitarian aid to Gaza and for diplomatic action that can lead to long-term and mutually respectful peace in the region.

“I just want to take a moment to thank members on both sides of the aisle and both leaderships for working together to come to language that we can all agree on,” Rep. Wilson-Anton said after the resolution’s passage.

Thursday’s resolution came nearly four months after a similar proposal was tabled in the House.

On the first day of this year’s legislative session Jan. 9, the vast majority of lawmakers did not voice support for Rep. Wilson-Anton’s House Resolution 26, which urged Delaware’s congressional delegation, President Joe Biden and the president’s administration to work toward a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The Newark Democrat’s resolution was considered following the passage of a different proposal that recognized loss of life as a result of the war and “our common humanity and the shared strength of our diversity.” Lawmakers had pushed back on Rep. Wilson-Anton’s resolution due to its specific reference to foreign affairs.

The January resolutions sparked an emotional debate in the House, though Rep. Wilson-Anton committed to continuing her work to call for a cease-fire and minimize the loss of civilian lives in Gaza.

In the recent proposal, the measure recognized the loss of over 1,200 Israeli lives following Hamas’ attack on the nation in October 2023, as well as the more than 30,000 Palestinian lives lost in response to the attacks.

The resolution also referenced the impact bombing has had on civilian families who have fallen victim to the war, as well as the deaths of 484 health care workers and 97 journalists in Gaza.

Prior to Thursday’s House session, Rep. Wilson-Anton led Muslim Capitol Day at Legislative Hall, where Muslim Delawareans visited the building to discuss issues pertinent to the community. Of those issues was the ongoing violence and loss of civilian life in Gaza.

The representative noted that one of her community members lost their mother a result of the war, further emphasizing that there are many other Delawareans who are being impacted by the violence in Gaza in very personal ways.

“We can get issues like this brought to the attention of our federal delegation, and I think it is our duty as elected officials to speak for justice regardless of if we have the ability to change it ourselves or not,” Rep. Wilson-Anton said on the east steps of Legislative Hall.

“We’re seeing that the more people speak up from all walks of life, the easier it becomes for those that are in power to do the same. So, I would implore my colleagues to speak for justice regardless of if they have the ability to actually change it themselves or not.”