Legislators debate resolutions that support Israel, condemn Hamas

State of play: More than 16,200 Palestinians have been killed amid Israel's bombardment and ground offensive since the war began, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza.

• The siege has led to the displacement of about 1.9 million Palestinians, while the number of aid trucks and gallons of fuel going into Gaza has decreased, according to the UN.
• UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a rare move on Wednesday formally urged the Security Council to "use all of its influence" to prevent "a humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
• The "ability of the UN to receive incoming loads of aid has been significantly impaired over the past three days by several factors," including the shortage of trucks, the communications blackout and the hostilities, its humanitarian office said.

What they're saying: State Rep. Esther Panitch, a Democrat who is the only Jewish member in the House, said condemning Hamas is the "easiest moral test of our time" and it should be demanded of "every member of the civilized world."

• She also said the House resolution isn't a microcosm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but only focuses on an organization that "calls for the destruction of Israel."
• "This is a bloodthirsty genocidal regime openly promising to continue slaughtering innocent Jews as soon as it is able to do so," she said.

Dov Wilker, regional director of the American Jewish Committee's Atlanta chapter told Axios that "solidarity and support is extremely important at this time, for not just for the Jewish community in Georgia, but truly more the Jewish community around the world and especially for the people of Israel."

• "These types of resolutions enable the Jewish community to feel supported at a moment when they are most anxious about their standing in the community [and] most fearful for what could happen at any given day," Wilker said.

Yes, but: Democratic State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who did not cast a vote on the resolution, said her issue is not with condemning Hamas because she's been "doing it since I was 15."

• The Palestinian-American legislator said she and other Muslims, Palestinians, and Arabs around the world have repeatedly denounced Hamas and other acts of terror, but those messages go unheard "because it doesn't fit the narrative."
• She said she's received daily messages from Palestinians who've lost loved ones since the war began, including a Georgia Tech professor who lost more than 100 family members.
• "This moment in our history is already painful enough, and I will not and cannot add any more to that pain," she said. "But I will also not oppose standing with community members who are hurting at this time. And this is why I will not vote for this."

Azka Mahmood, executive director of the CAIR-Georgia, told Axios in a statement that it's "deeply hurtful" when governments address the war, but "deliberately ignores the suffering" of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.

• "It makes people feel as if their grief and the worry they feel for their loved ones doesn't matter to their government," Mahmood said. "The suffering of Israeli civilians and their loved ones here is real, and there's no harm in acknowledging both. It's unfortunate that the General Assembly felt a need to ignore a significant portion of its constituents."

What's next: Both resolutions have to pass the General Assembly by Friday, the end of the special session.