Washington DC - Nearly two years into Israel's destruction of Gaza, Bernie Sander became the first US senator to call out the relentless assault as genocide.

In an op-ed published on his official Senate website Wednesday, the Vermont Independent and progressive icon wrote: "The intent is clear. The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza."

Over the past 24 months, a consensus has been building among human rights organizations, legal experts, and scholars that Israel is aiming to destroy – in whole or in part – the Palestinian people.

Sanders laid out some of the atrocities committed by Israeli forces in Gaza: killing tens of thousands of civilians, forcibly displacing virtually the entire population of the strip, causing a horrific famine by blocking aid, and reducing all infrastructure to rubble.

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The 84-year-old also highlighted the public statements of Israeli leaders, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, to answer the question of intent – a key condition in the definition of genocide.

Urging an end to US "complicity in the slaughter of the Palestinian people," Sanders touted his attempts to push through Senate resolutions that would block "offensive arms sales" to Israel. The last such effort failed in July.

"The very term genocide is a reminder of what can happen if we fail. That word emerged from the Holocaust – the murder of six million Jews – one of the darkest chapters in human history," wrote Sanders, who is Jewish and initially hesitated to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

"Make no mistake. If there is no accountability for Netanyahu and his fellow war criminals, other demagogues will do the same."

A growing number of congresspeople have come to believe Israel is committing genocide, including Sanders' progressive ally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.