Seventeen Democratic senators wrote to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urging him address the humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip following last month’s Israeli aggression on the besieged coastal enclave.

“In order for this ceasefire to be durable and avoid a renewal of the cycle of violence, it is critical that we improve the dire conditions in Gaza that only contribute to despair and further fuel extremism,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, spearheaded by Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy and Jeff Merkley and first reported by Axios.

The Biden administration has already expressed interest in engaging with Gaza reconstruction plans, and Blinken was in the region last week for talks on the matter. He said the effort would be led by the United Nations in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority to ensure the financial aid does not reach the Hamas terror group, which rules the Strip.

The letter — also signed by senators Patrick Leahy, Brian Schatz, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Raphael Warnock, Sherrod Brown, Martin Heinrich, Jack Reed, Patty Murray, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan — focused on “address[ing] the growing needs of the civilian population.”

The senators urge Blinken to “press all sides to allow for unfettered relief,” announce new bilateral funding for humanitarian and development assistance, including access to safe drinking water, and encourage other donor countries, to join the effort.