Another US official has publicly quit their government job over the Biden administration's handling of the Israel Hamas war. Until yesterday, Dr. Anel Sheilin was a Foreign Affairs Officer at the State Department, working in an office that promotes human rights in the Middle East. Dr. Sheilin details the reasoning behind her public resignation in a CNN Opinion article, and she joins us now. Thanks so much for joining.

Thank you for having me.

You write regarding the forced displacement of Gaza the civilians, the lack of aid, violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. You say, These actions which experts on genocide have testified meet the crime of genocide are conducted with the diplomatic and military support of the US government. That's the basis of your resignation. As you know, genocide is a very specific definition here. How do you feel Israel's behavior there meets that definition?

I would leave that to the experts. As you said, it is a very specific definition But I would argue that in general, the actions the Israeli military is taking are seeking to wipe out the population of Gaza. We've also heard such statements made by Israeli officials, political officials, and military officials. Unfortunately, we're also hearing plans being made now for people to take over the territory of the Gaza Strip. We had Jared Kushner come on and talk about how he's going to build high rises on this beautiful beachfront property. As you said, the crime of genocide does need to meet a particular legal definition, but I would posit that there are many experts who are arguing that that is what Israel is doing.

Well, intended It is key, of course, because here, let's be clear, Hamas is a terrorist organization. It deliberately kills civilians, as it did on October seventh, and it deliberately hides civilians civilians in Gaza. I understand the argument that there has been insufficient attention to protect civilian lives there. But I wonder, who do you hold responsible for it? Is it Israel alone? Is it Israel and the US for its support? But is Hamas? Does Hamas also bear responsibility for those civilian losses?

Absolutely. Hamas is a terrorist organization. I just think that the way Israel and as well as the United States have been involved in conducting this war, it could have been done in a very different manner. The levels of the casualties that we're seeing, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, the fact that the United States isn't using its leverage to insist that aid get in and that a ceasefire be put in place. In particular, we're seeing from the Israeli public, they are frustration with the fact that their own hostages are not actually being prioritized. Instead, we have the Prime Minister, whose political future depends on this war going on for as long as possible. He's talked about going after Lebanon as well. I know that the US government is trying to do everything they can to prevent that, but thus far, I shouldn't say everything they can. They're not doing everything they can to prevent that. I would argue they need to use all the leverage to make sure Israel neither expands the war and agrees to a ceasefire, an exchange of hostages from both sides, and to bring in the necessary aid.

You told my colleague, Christiane Amenpour, today that you speak for, quote, many people when standing against the US government's guys of policy. I wonder when you left, when you made your resignation public, when you wrote this opinion piece for CNN, did many people, many of your colleagues come to you and say, We're backing you?

They have. I was not planning initially to go public. I was only at the State Department a brief time. But when I started to tell people that I was planning to resign, When quietly, they said, Please reconsider. Please go public if you'd be willing to. So I decided I would. And since then, I have had people reach out to me. I think my greatest concern is that by going public, I might somehow undermine some of these efforts, and the State Department is doing very important work here. But I do think that public pressure is why we're starting to see the administration shifting here, and it is the administration that is making these decisions. It's the President who is deciding what our policy towards Israel and regarding Gaza is going to be. Even though there are many people inside state who disagree with this, it's going to take the President changing his mind before we see a new policy.

Let me ask you this, because as you say, there has been both private public pressure increasing from President Biden and the White House in recent days and weeks on Israel, for instance, not to go into Raafa in Gaza. That's insufficient in your view. What would be sufficient in your view from the US side?

I think the US We need to uphold our own laws. We have the Lehi laws that stipulate that US foreign military assistance cannot go to units of a foreign military that are engaged in gross human rights violations. Also, a foreign government that is preventing US humanitarian aid is no longer eligible for US military assistance. We're not upholding those laws, so I think we could start there, just start upholding our own laws. I think this is particularly crucial not only for the people of Gaza, but This administration has tried to distinguish itself from the previous administration as one that not only believes in the rule of law, but that believes in America's role in the world and wanted to reestablish America as a leader, not only in terms of, I know you've done work on great power competition, but if America is not going to distinguish itself from some of our adversaries that engage in these human rights violations, why should the rest of the world look to us as a leader?

You said it's a loss of soft power. Dr. Anel Shilai, thanks so much for sharing your point of view. I appreciate having you.