Dear President Donald J. Trump,

As Buddhists and friends of Buddhism from around the world, we write to you to express our distress over the policy of mass starvation that the Israeli government has been inflicting on the people of Gaza. This cruel campaign, impacting two million people, demands immediate action. We therefore call on you, as president of the most powerful nation on earth, to stop this terrible calamity.

To be clear, we roundly condemn Hamas for its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which ignited the present conflagration. We also demand that Hamas release the surviving Israeli hostages and return them to their families. But since the Israeli military machine began its campaign of retaliation, we have witnessed a series of atrocities unfold that are ravaging our moral consciousness.

We’ve read reports about the targeted killing of journalists, doctors, medical staff, university professors, and hospital patients. We’ve seen photos of children burned to cinders in their tents, and videos of dazed children wandering through hospital corridors with amputated limbs, their parents and siblings gone. And we'll never forget the voice of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl desperately calling for help before she herself, and the rescue team sent to save her, were gunned down by Israeli tanks.

Yet all these acts of destruction—as horrific as they are—pale in comparison to what we witness in Gaza today. We now see with our own eyes an entire population being subjected to a deliberately calculated policy of mass starvation. The Netanyahu government has blocked virtually all food from entering Gaza, and has also cut off the supply of clean drinking water. The sword of death casts shadows over ever more precious human lives.

Thousands of people have gone for weeks without obtaining even a morsel to eat. Babies are perishing from lack of infant formula. Children reduced to skin and bones lie motionless in bed. Adults faint from malnutrition. Each day, the number of starving people is escalating and the death toll mounts. The “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” is being exploited--luring hungry Gazans to their death, as Israeli soldiers and US contractors shoot and kill the desperate people who rush to the distribution sites seeking food.

Mr. President, this has got to stop, and there is only one person in the world who can stop it: You.

Yes, Mr. President, all it would take from you is a telephone call to Netanyahu and a stern warning that, if he knows what is good for himself, he’ll quickly put an end to this unfathomable cruelty. The United Nations World Food Programme must be allowed to resume its food distribution program in Gaza. They're the ones with the requisite expertise and know-how.  They have thousands of trucks ready to enter Gaza and distribute food throughout the Strip, from north to south, with respect for the hungry recipients.

Mr. President, if you make this happen, you will be praised around the world. Your legacy as a peacemaker will be stamped in all our future history books, and the eyes of almighty God--the God of love--will shine brightly upon you. Of all world leaders, you are the only one who can do this. 

We know that peace in the Middle East is important to you, as it is to all people of goodwill. The barriers to peace are not insurmountable. The first step must be putting an end to the awful spectacle of deliberate mass starvation. This will be an effective starting point on the long road to lasting peace. So let’s get the supply of food flowing into Gaza once again, and let’s have a permanent ceasefire.

Thank you, Mr. President, for giving attention to this appeal, which arises from the depths of our hearts. 

Let peace prevail in Israel and Palestine! Let peace prevail everywhere!