Does a Gaza resolution have enough votes in West Lafayette?

Survey of city council members shows a resolution calling for a ceasefire, more U.S. humanitarian aid in Gaza is no sure thing, as the push continues for West Lafayette to weigh in on war.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

---

Correction: An earlier version of this story, when addressing council member David Sanders’ position, included a reference to a statement read by the West Lafayette City Council at its May meeting. Sanders was referring to a different statement from the city council at its April meeting. This version of the story has been updated.

---

The path to approval doesn’t appear to be a done deal for a resolution calling on the West Lafayette City Council to make a statement calling for a cease fire in Gaza.

After a series of testy and often loud city council meetings since March – in which pro-Palestinian and pro-ceasefire residents spent hours pleading and harrying the nine-member body during public comment time – a pair of council members will bring a measure that sides with more U.S. humanitarian aid and urges the White House to press harder for a ceasefire and release of hostages in the war between Israel and Hamas.

“I feel that it was simply necessary to put this resolution on the table,” Iris O’Donnell Bellisario, a city council member, said. She and council member Laila Veidemanis will introduce the measure at Monday evening’s meeting.

“While the resolution itself may not pass, we hope that us bringing the resolution up for conversation affirms the community’s concerns have been heard,” O’Donnell Bellisario said last week.

A survey of city council members reveal that several have misgivings ahead of Monday’s potential vote. And that follows three months when council members insisting they weren’t going to get in on an international situation thinking they had sway over a war that had killed 34,000 people since Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.