Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asserted Wednesday that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and urged the United States to use "all of our influence to demand a cease-fire" immediate.”

It is the first time that Sanders, the nation’s leading progressive voice, has called the conflict a genocide. His comments could draw similar criticism from other left-wing lawmakers.

He is also the first sitting U.S. senator to definitively declare the war a genocide.

“The intent is clear. The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” Sanders said Wednesday in a statement on his Senate website titled “It is genocide. The intent is clear.”

Sanders cited casualty figures: at least 65,000 Palestinians dead and 164,000 wounded out of a population of 2.2 million. Figures from an Israeli military database suggest that 83% of those killed were civilians.

He also pointed to statements by Israeli officials as evidence of intent, citing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who called Palestinians “human animals,” and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who vowed that “Gaza will be completely destroyed.”

A United Nations commission investigating the war declared this week that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, the most forceful statement yet from the international body.

Sanders joins a small but growing list of House members, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, as well as Vermont Rep. Becca Balint, who also called it genocide earlier in the day.

The Trump administration has backed Israeli actions since taking office.

Sanders has previously led Senate efforts to block offensive weapons sales to Israel through joint resolutions of disapproval, but his efforts have been unsuccessful in halting the arms transfers.