Activists urge voters to write Gaza 'ceasefire' on US primary ballots

Peace activists have urged US voters considering candidates for November's presidential election to instead write "ceasefire" on primary ballots in protest over Joe Biden's unwavering support for Israel's brutal war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, 11,000 of whom are children.

"Vote Ceasefire" — a coalition of local anti-war groups — says the effort allows Americans to give voice to their anger at the Democratic president over the mounting toll of civilian deaths in Gaza following deadly October 7 Hamas blitz.

Despite expressing sorrow over civilian casualties in Gaza, the Biden administration continues to supply Israel with weapons and shield it from UN resolutions. Often, this support has sidestepped Congress review.

Voters in New Hampshire will pick their preferred candidate in either the Democratic or Republican nominating contests on Tuesday but the push is aimed at progressives wishing to put the White House on notice.

"For the last three months, as the world has watched the war in Gaza continue to worsen, the Biden administration has refused all demands to call for a ceasefire and to end US support for Israel," the campaign posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"So we're taking our fight to the place Democrats care about the most -- the polls. While Joe Biden will almost certainly win the Democratic nomination later this year, he must know that the road to get there will be long and hard if he refuses to listen to his constituents."

The October 7 attack resulted in the death of around 1,140 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.

The surprise attack on Israel led by Hamas came after one of the most violent years on record, with over 200 Palestinians killed, including over 38 children, by Israeli occupational troops and illegal Zionist settlers.

Hamas says the coordinated attack was in response to Israel's desecration of Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site, and increased state-sanctioned Israeli settler violence across the occupied Palestinian territories.

Seen as the biggest attack on Israel in years, the assault combined gunmen crossing into several Israeli towns with a heavy barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.

Gaza has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007. Since 2008, Israel has waged four wars on the Palestinian territory, killing thousands of people. The West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

Following Hamas raid, Israel carried out a relentless air, land and sea invasion that has killed at least 25,295 people in Gaza, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents.

Oppose continuing slaughter in Gaza

"Vote Ceasefire" organisers have not indicated what kind of turnout would constitute a success for the campaign and it is unclear how much affect it will have.

Biden himself is not on the ballot and is largely ignoring the contest, after New Hampshire officials clashed with the national party over scheduling.

A separate campaign is urging supporters to write Biden's name on the ballot in exactly the same manner that "Vote Ceasefire" is promoting.

The outcome will not affect the nomination process in any case, as the Democratic National Committee has declared the New Hampshire primary illegitimate.

Biden is expected to win the nomination comfortably.

"I'm doing this as over 80 percent of Democratic voters are in favour of a ceasefire for Gaza and are opposed to the continuing slaughter of civilian men, women and children in Palestine, with the United States-supplied weapons," campaign volunteer and former Democratic state representative Chris Balch said in a video posted to X.

But self-help author Marianne Williamson, who is on the Democratic ballot, said the "Vote Ceasefire" campaign was doing nothing to help the citizens of Gaza.

"A way to actually help create a ceasefire would be to vote for a candidate who has called for one from the very beginning," she posted in response to the campaign's social media statements.