A group of 25 Senate Democrats, comprising more than half of the caucus and led by several senior leaders, wrote to President Donald Trump on Friday condemning new plans for expanded Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and accusing the Trump administration of failing to push for peace.

“This is a dangerous inflection point for Israel and the region, and while we support ongoing efforts to eliminate Hamas, a full-scale reoccupation of Gaza would be a critical strategic mistake,” the lawmakers said, of Israel’s plan to expand military operations in Gaza.

The letter was led by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Jack Reed (D-RI). Coons is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Defense. Shaheen and Reed are the ranking members of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, respectively.

They said that the plan had increased tensions and could “engulf the volatile region in conflict.” The letter links the Houthi strike on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and ongoing Houthi attacks to the war in Gaza and warns the ongoing conflict could undermine stability in Jordan. It also highlights that the continued war would block a pathway to normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“Israel’s planned actions would severely undermine Jerusalem’s path to a more secure, stable and regionally integrated future, which you championed in your first term through the Abraham Accords,” they wrote. “Israel’s proposed occupation plans take us further away from permanently ending the Israel-Gaza war and upholding Israel’s security, both goals that you have promised to achieve under your administration.”

They also asserted, citing Israeli government officials’ comments, that “Hamas’s military capacity had been effectively obliterated.”

The Democrats argued that the situation in Gaza has “deteriorated dramatically” in recent months and said that “we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe” due to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid moving into Gaza. Multiple groups of House members have recently urged the resumption of humanitarian aid as well.

They rejected a new plan for aid distribution in Gaza, which they described as an Israeli plan but which U.S. officials have described as American-led

“The Israeli government’s new aid proposal is simply not viable. It would limit aid distribution to just a few sites in southern Gaza secured by private U.S. contractors, and nearly all aid groups operating in the region note this would only increase insecurity and displacement,” the letter reads. “Roughly half of Gaza’s 2.1 million people are children; a generation of starving children today would prevent a secure and peaceful Israel tomorrow.”

The letter praises the Trump transition team’s efforts to work toward a ceasefire in Gaza, but said that, “Today, the United States is not providing critically needed leadership to drive peace forward, which is why we write to express our deep concern in advance of your upcoming travel to the Middle East.”

The lawmakers called on Trump to push for a deal to free the hostages, resume a ceasefire, form an Arab-backed security force to take over governance of Gaza and establish a path toward lasting peace.

The letter concludes, “All of us are longstanding advocates of the U.S.-Israel security partnership, and we will continue to fight for the defense of the Israeli people. That is why, today, we stand with the nearly three-quarters of the Israeli public who are fighting for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire.”

Other signatories include Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Durbin is the No. 2 Senate Democrat and Schatz is running to replace him in that role.