Andrew Miller, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, was a critic of President Joe Biden's "bear hug" approach to Israel during the war, and is described by people who know him as a stalwart supporter of Palestinian rights and statehood, the Washington Post newspaper reported on Friday.
According to TRT, Miller told colleagues that he is leaving his post because he has rarely been able to see family during the course of Israel's 260-day war and that if not for them, he would have preferred to stay in his job to "fight for what he believes," the Post reported.
His resignation comes on the heels of at least eight other Biden administration officials' departures who left in protest of the war in Gaza and the president's hitherto refusal to break lockstep with the Israeli regime.
But Miller's resignation is notable as it marks the departure of the most senior official with a role in Israel-Palestine policy-making.
Stacy Gilbert, a former senior State Department official, resigned over Israel's hindering aid into the blockaded enclave.
Hala Rharrit, a former American diplomat who also resigned over the Biden administration's handling of the war, recently told TRT World that President Biden's failed militaristic Gaza policy made it impossible to achieve peace.
"I was watching, monitoring, witnessing and reporting back to Washington on a daily basis the ramifications of our policy throughout the Arab world, and I could see that it was helping no one," she told TRT World in an interview.
Josh Paul, a former senior State Department staffer, was the first to quit over Biden's handling of the war, sparking a wave of resignations in Washington. Since then, he has become a regular in pro-Palestine protests in the US capital.
SD/PR
07:05 - 2024/06/23
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