An active-duty US Army officer announced his resignation Monday from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the service over the US government's policy on Gaza, the latest official to leave his post in protest of the Biden administration's continued support for Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.

US Army Major Harrison Mann, who specialized in the Middle East and Africa for about half of his military career, which lasted more than 13 years, distributed his resignation letter internally last April 16 before deciding to publish a “slightly edited” version publicly on the social networking site LinkedIn. This week in light of continued American support for Israel despite its recent invasion of Rafah.

“This office not only communicates policy, it facilitates and, at times, directly implements policy,” Mann, an American Jew, said in his letter. “The policy that has never left my mind over the past six months is almost unconditional support for the government of Israel,” Mann, an American Jew, said in his letter. Which caused the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”

Since Israel launched its war on the besieged Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters surprised the Israeli occupation army in the attack of last October 7, which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, including 311 soldiers (according to official Israeli reports), and detained 250 Israelis, the Israeli occupation forces have killed more Of the 35 thousand people in Gaza, most of them are women and children.

Most of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip was also displaced; creating a famine crisis by preventing aid from arriving and bombing hospitals; detention and torture of men and boys; It targeted journalists, aid workers and healthcare officials, and these losses do not include the violence faced by Palestinians in the West Bank at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers.

In his letter, Mann spoke about his position at the Defense Intelligence Agency, and how he "undoubtedly contributed" to America's unconditional support for Israel through his role in the military.

He wrote: "The past months have presented us with the most horrifying and saddening images imaginable - sometimes played out in the news in our own spaces - and I have been unable to ignore the connection between those images and my duties here (at my post); this has caused me incredible shame and guilt." ".

Regional Pentagon specialists, like Mann, can serve as defense attachés representing the military diplomatically at U.S. embassies around the world. Attachees can also evaluate foreign powers' requests for weapons and training, and make recommendations to the State Department on whether providing military aid is necessary and complies with the Bill of Rights. American human.

Mann said in his letter that despite his internal conflict over Gaza, he continued to do his work without voicing his concerns — hoping that the Israeli military campaign would end soon, or that a wave of public anger would finally change the American position on Israel, or that his individual contribution would It was insignificant and that he had no right to question political decisions.

But Major decided to publish his resignation letter after the State Department sent its upcoming report to Congress on whether Israel is using US military aid to violate international and US human rights laws in Gaza, while the “National Security Memorandum-20 NSM-20” report issued on Friday says (10/5/2024) While it is “reasonable” to assess that Israel is violating international law, it confirms that the country can continue to receive US military support – prompting lawmakers, human rights groups and activists to criticize the Biden administration for its military efforts, due to its complicity in crimes Possible war.

“As a descendant of European Jews, I grew up in a particularly strict moral environment when it came to taking responsibility for ethnic cleansing.”

He continued: "I will be haunted by the knowledge that I failed in those principles, but I also hope that my grandfather will grant me forgiveness, and that he will remain proud of me for staying away from this war, even if it is late."

Mann's resignation comes after Palestinian-American Tariq Habash, a former Biden appointee, publicly resigned from the Department of Education earlier this year over the administration's stance on Gaza.

The "HuffPost" website also published the news of the resignation of former State Department official Josh Paul in October, due to his opposition to the Biden administration's policies of continuing to arm Israel during its military attack on Gaza.

Mann's exit is not the only prominent opposition figure from the US military.

In February, Aaron Bushnell, an Air Force member, died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., in protest of US support for the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The 25-year-old pilot live-streamed himself, saying he “ "He will no longer be complicit in genocide" before burning himself and shouting "Free Palestine!"

“The consequences of this particular policy have become difficult to defend and at some point—whatever the justification—you either oppose the policy of widespread child starvation, or you don’t,” Mann wrote in his letter.