S.Res.227, Condemning Hamas for its terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, against Israel and demanding that Hamas immediately release all remaining hostages and return them to safety

S.Res.227 was introduced on May 14, 2025 by Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV). It is currently pending before the Foreign Relations Committee, and has 15 co-sponsors on a bipartisan basis.

Related legislation:

Bill Summary: S.Res.227 is a nonbinding sense of the Senate condemning Hamas for the October 7th attack and for its detention and treatment of the hostages.

Context: The House and the Senate have between them passed multiple Resolutions since October 2023 condemning Hamas, including Senator Rosen’s S.Res.408 of November 2023 that included almost identical language to S.Res.227. 

Since S.Res.408 passed, over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, international courts and a U.S. federal judge have cited a ‘plausible case of genocide’ against Israel, settler violence has significantly increased in the West Bank, and senior Israeli government officials have endorsed forced starvation and ethnic cleansing as objectives of Israel’s operations.  Yet, to this day it remains politically impossible to advance a Resolution in the House or Senate that condemns any of these actions; indeed, even S.Res.224, expressing the concern of the Senate on the forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza itself includes a clause urging the release of Hamas’ hostages. Yet S.Res.227 is entirely bereft of any expression of empathy - let alone condemnation - for the fate of Palestinians in Gaza.

A New Policy’s Recommendation: NEUTRAL, SUBJECT TO AMENDMENT

A New Policy supports Congressional condemnation of violations of international humanitarian law, but believes that when such condemnation is made to advance objectives that are inherently political, they lose their credibility. Either the United States Senate supports international humanitarian law, in which case it should condemn all violations thereof, including those by the Government of Israel, or it does not – in which case the Senate should recognize it is selling its moral leadership cheaply.

For more information please contact: Josh Paul, (202) 770-0055; info@anewpolicy.org