Over 50 anti-Israel protestors arrested after shutting down Capitol cafeteria: Demonstrators shout 'Senate can't eat until Gaza eats!'

Around 50 protesters organized were arrested after the shut down a cafeteria in the Senate in protest of the U.S.'s policy on Israel. 

'Senate can't eat until Gaza eats!' the activists shouted as they blocked entrances to the Dirksen cafeteria. They were apprehended by Capitol Police. 

Some donned the group's signature pink shirts emblazoned with slogans like 'No $$$ to Israel' and 'Let Gaza live.' 

The protests were organized by activist group Code Pink and Christians for a Free Palestine. They were demanding Congress back a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and oppose offering further funding to Israel. 

Around 50 protesters organized were arrested after the shut down a cafeteria in the Senate in protest of the U.S.'s policy on Israel

'Senate can't eat until Gaza eats!' the activists shouted as they blocked entrances to the Dirksen cafeteria. They were apprehended by Capitol Police

Pro-Gaza protesters have been working overtime on Capitol Hill in the recent months of the conflict as civilian deaths pile up. On Tuesday morning, a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing devolved into chaos as protesters demanded President Biden's top officials 'stop funding Gaza.'

In a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Biden said an 'immediate ceasefire' is 'essential,' according to a readout of the call. 

Michigan Republican Rep. John James labeled the protests a 'distraction' funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

'Fun fact: Code Pink (who is funding these 'protests') is funded by the CCP. And while these people try to distract from the fact that the hostages are still being held by Hamas, Israel is fighting a war to preserve its existence and keep the Jewish people safe,' he wrote on X. 

Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown were answering questions on the Defense Department's 2025 military budget request which totals a staggering $850 billion. 

Shortly after the hearing began, Austin testified, 'We don't have any evidence of genocide being [committed]' on Palestinians by Israel, a claim that directly cuts against what protesters earlier in the hearing alleged he was supporting. 

Just minutes before, chaos broke out as hecklers started yelling at Biden's top military officials, accusing them of being complicit in genocide in Gaza.

'Enough is enough how many people have to die,' one protestor yelled about lives lost in Gaza as Israel attempts to take out terror group Hamas. 'How many children have to die?' 

Protesters demand US back a ceasefire in Gaza

'Enough killing my people, enough,' the man continued. 

'Stop bombing Gaza,' the protestor demanded. 'Stop funding Israel.'

The demonstrators charged the U.S. with being complicit in a genocide carried out in Gaza by Israel, a claim that the Secretary of Defense denies.

Later, Austin would go on to talk about U.S. plans to aid the Gaza strip, including the establishment of a pier that would be used to bring food and aid supplies into the Hamas-run area.

He said the pier would 'probably' be ready 'by the third weekend of this month.' 

If true, that means the military aid pier could be ready in just a couple of days.

The White House has only recently become critical of the Israeli military campaign aimed at eradicating Hamas. 

National security spokesman John Kirby said the White House is growing 'increasingly frustrated' with Israel's actions in Gaza. 

During an appearance on ABC's This Week on Sunday, co-anchor Martha Raddatz noted how President Biden and his Cabinet officials seem to have grown increasingly frustrated with Israel's bloody offensive to eradicate Hamas. 

'I'm glad you brought that timeline up because it shows the degree… the growing degree of frustration that we've had with the way these operations are being prosecuted and the way that Israelis are acting on the ground in terms of civilian casualties,' Kirby told Raddatz. 

'So we have been increasingly frustrated. And again, that was a core message that the President delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu in their phone call this… past week… that they've got to do more, they've got to make changes,' he continued.

Biden faced a revolt from progressives who say he is too supportive of Israel as civilian casualties pile up in Gaza. Criticism of Israel's military campaign swelled this week when an Israeli airstrike killed six workers with the World Central Kitchen, one being an American, and their Palestinian driver as they were leaving a warehouse in Central Gaza.

The workers, delivering food aid in Gaza, were driving in a 'de-conflicted zone' in armored, labeled cars that were struck by an Israeli rocket. 

On Friday a group of more than 30 House Democrats including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded Biden halt the transfer of weapons to Israel. 

'In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers,' read the letter. 

The Palestinian death toll since October has surpassed 33,000.