A group of Palestinian Americans asked a federal judge on Friday to bar the United States from providing military, financial and diplomatic support to Israel for committing genocide in Gaza. The Biden administration has asked the judge to dismiss the case, which was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights. One of the lawyers in the case, Marc Van Der Hout, spoke outside the federal courthouse in Oakland on Friday.

Marc Van Der Hout: “We are very hopeful. We think the evidence was overwhelming. The government, the administration, did not even contest, really, that there was genocide going on. They just say, 'Judge, whatever is going on, whether it's 20,000 or 30,000 or 50,000 or 200,000 or 2.2 million people who are ultimately killed, you can’t do anything, Judge. Nobody can do anything. The president can do whatever the hell he wants.’ And what do we say to that? We say hell no.”

In related news, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged the FBI to investigate pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Without sharing any evidence, Pelosi claimed on CNN that the protesters may have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pelosi said, “For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message.”