San Francisco mayor denounces city's resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has come out strongly against the city's recent resolution by the Board of Supervisors calling for a ceasefire for Israel's war on Gaza.

This reportedly came one day after she received a strongly worded letter from her counterpart, Einat Kalisch-Rotem, in Haifa, a sister city of San Francisco. 

"Like my recent predecessors in this office, I almost never comment or take action on non-binding resolutions from the Board of Supervisors. This one warrants an exception," Breed reportedly said in her public statement. 

"What happened at the Board of Supervisors during this last month did not reflect our values. While I support the need for community members to be heard, the process at the board only inflamed division and hurt," she continued.

The Israeli mayor described the resolution as one-sided and reportedly asked Breed to veto it. The San Francisco mayor hasn't indicated if she was considering a veto. However, the board's 8-3 vote would be enough to override a veto.

"I am compelled to express our profound disappointment with our sister city, San Francisco, for passing a resolution that critically targets Israel but glaringly omits to condemn the sexual violence against women by Hamas on 7 October and the continuing violence against hostages held for almost 100 days by Hamas," the Haifa mayor wrote, according to J—the Jewish News of Northern California.

"It is imperative to address and denounce all forms of violence and human rights violations," she continued. "As sister cities, our joint commitment should be towards promoting peace, justice, and equality for all."

San Francisco passed its ceasefire resolution last week, making it the largest US city to do so. The move follows public opinion, with polls finding the majority of the American public, around 68 per cent, supports a ceasefire. The resolution was introduced by Dean Preston, who is Jewish and was raised by refugees from Nazi Germany.

Since the outbreak of the conflict on 7 October, more than 24,000 Palestinians in Gaza and around 1,00 people in Israel have been killed.