{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-merkley-release-report-detailing-findings-on-humanitarian-situation-in-gaza-following-recent-codel-to-gaza-border-israel-west-bank-jordan-egypt", "Van Hollen, Merkley Release Report Detailing Findings on Humanitarian Situation in Gaza, Following Recent CODEL to Gaza Border, Israel, West Bank, Jordan, Egypt", "2025-09-11", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MD", "Chris Van Hollen", "V000128", "www.vanhollen.senate.gov", "vanhollen", "https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) released a report they have compiled detailing their findings on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, following their recent CODEL to the Gaza border, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, and Egypt. The Senators returned last Tuesday from the region where they saw firsthand the challenges facing humanitarian aid efforts into Gaza and pressed for an immediate ceasefire and the return of all hostages. During their visit, the Senators witnessed the distribution of humanitarian aid, including at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings into Gaza and around the Jordan aid corridor. In their report, the Senators put forward their conclusion that the Netanyahu government is implementing a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians.\n\nThe full report is available here. Footage of the Senators\u2019 press conference on the release of the report is available here.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the Netanyahu government has gone far beyond targeting Hamas and is instead imposing collective punishment on all the people of Gaza. In this report, we detail key findings from our trip that support that conclusion and demonstrate that the Netanyahu government is now implementing a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians and is using hunger as a weapon of war. We hope this report will draw greater attention to these facts both here and around the world. We will do everything in our power to end America\u2019s ongoing complicity in this humanitarian disaster. The world must unite to stop it,\u201d said Senator Van Hollen.\n\n\u201cThe goals of the Netanyahu government are clear: to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians through a campaign of destruction and deprivation,\u201d said Senator Merkley. \u201cOur report details what we saw during our recent trip to the region, including the destruction of Rafah that has reduced the city to rubble, and what we heard from experts in the field about how the Netanyahu government is systematically depriving Palestinians of the essentials needed to live - food, shelter, medicine, and water. It\u2019s time for U.S. complicity in these atrocities to end.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-merkley-release-report-detailing-findings-on-humanitarian-situation-in-gaza-following-recent-codel-to-gaza-border-israel-west-bank-jordan-egypt"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.235578838735819, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}