Dozens of protesters have been arrested inside a House office building on Capitol Hill and have shut down an intersection at the gates of the Capitol building’s entrance. The demonstrators are calling on President Biden to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and are holding signs with such messages as “Jews against apartheid” and “End the genocide in Gaza.”

The action began mid-afternoon, when hundreds of protesters, many of whom identified themselves as being Jewish, entered the Cannon House office building and began a sit-in protest, which is illegal. The protesters sang in Hebrew until they were arrested by Capitol police. 

A congressman who has been wearing a tie adorned with the Israeli flag since Hamas attacked the southern part of the country on Saturday, Randy Weber, whose office is in the Cannon building, posted a video online showing that the protesters tore down a sign outside of his office that read, “I Stand with Israel.”

“Just happened outside of my office … Hamas supporters entered the Capitol and ripped down the ‘I Stand with Israel” sign outside my office,” Mr. Weber said on X.

“This is what happens when unrealistic, uneducated people who want to support the killing of innocent Israelis, innocent Jews … they want to come into this Capitol building and wreak havoc,” Mr. Weber said in a video. “They want to blame Israel. I for one am not going to stop standing with Israel. … These people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The protesters entered the Cannon building shortly after Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib gave an emotional speech outside in the street in which she said that “people think it’s okay to bomb a hospital,” referring to the debunked claims that Israel was involved in the destruction of the al-Ahli Baptist hospital. The Department of Defense and Israel’s intelligence agencies have concluded that it was the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad that accidentally bombed the hospital. The Senate Intelligence Committee reached the same conclusion. 

Ms. Tlaib — who stood before a banner that read “ceasefire” — went on to say, “If we’re not crying, something is wrong” and accused Israel of committing a genocide. 

“I am telling you right now, President Biden: Not all of America is with you on this one,” she said. “You need to wake up and understand that. We are literally watching people commit genocide … and we still stand by and say nothing.” She told the protesters that they are “on the right side of history.”

A number of liberal Democrats, including Ms. Tlaib, have signed on to a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Other signatories include Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Congresswoman Cori Bush, and Congressman Andre Carson. In total, just 12 have signed the letter.