By Servet Gunerigok
WASHINGTON (AA) - Muslim Americans gathered outside the White House on Thursday for an Iftar event in solidarity with Gaza, expressing their dissatisfaction with the US's unconditional support for Israel.
Over 100 people congregated in Lafayette Park, just across from the presidential residence.
Attendees broke their fast seated on the ground, sharing the food they had brought. Organizers also provided water and dates to assist in breaking the fast with the evening adhan, or call to prayer.
The gathering came two days after President Joe Biden hosted a scaled-down fast-breaking event with several members of the Muslim community at the White House.
At the same time as the White House event on Tuesday, dozens of members of the Muslim American community and their allies braved rain, wind and frigid temperatures to stage a breaking of the fast protest outside the executive mansion, demanding the president call for an immediate cease-fire to halt the bloodshed in Gaza.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack in early October by the Palestinian group Hamas killed around 1,200 people.
More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,577 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.
*Hakan Copur contributed to the story