The Richmond City Council in California voted in favor of a resolution accusing Israel of practicing ethnic cleansing and considering it a state that practices apartheid against the Palestinian people.

The resolution was adopted by a majority of five votes in favor and one vote against, and was titled: “Richmond City Council affirms support and solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

The population of this city is more than a quarter of a million citizens. Before voting, the positions of the citizens were listened to, most of whom expressed their support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.

The resolution affirmed that “the city of Richmond stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, who are currently facing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment from the State of Israel.”

He stressed that collective punishment is considered a war crime under international law, and refers to a form of punishment imposed on persons or a group of persons in response to a crime committed by one of them or a member of the group. The resolution said: The State of Israel practices collective punishment against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and this collective punishment of the Palestinian people includes cutting off all access to electricity, drinking water, food, and humanitarian aid.

The resolution referred to reports issued by the United Nations, which stated that nearly two million people in Gaza would not soon find drinking water and medical care.

The resolution considered that Israel is now engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing by explicitly demanding that two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip leave Gaza immediately or risk being bombed in their homes by the Israeli army. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, and groups have indicated that Human Rights Watch has repeatedly described it as “the largest open-air prison in the world”, due to the ongoing intolerable living conditions imposed by the State of Israel, including a complete air, land and sea blockade, cordoning off its borders with concrete walls and barbed wire fences, and the strict prohibition imposed on Palestinians. To leave and enter the region freely, and since this siege on Gaza has caused an unemployment rate of up to 42%, while 84% of the population depends on humanitarian aid, 41% of Palestinians have little food, and 60% of Palestinian children suffer from anemia. Gazans cannot rely on more than 2-4 hours of continuous electrical power per day, and that before this current water shortage, only 1% of Gaza’s population had access to safe drinking water, leaving Gazans - half of whom are children - vulnerable.

Increased risk of waterborne diseases, infections and dehydration, as Israel has not allowed many common cancer diagnostic and treatment tools, including positron emission tomography and radiotherapy, to enter Gaza since 2007. It was also decided that the city of Richmond pledges to combat anti-Semitism and ethnic nationalism at all costs. forms, and finally, they resolved that the City of Richmond defends the dignity and safety of the residents of every community, regardless of the crimes that may be committed by its leadership, and that peaceful diplomacy is the only way to achieve this safety and dignity.