“I got so tired of writing about dead kids”: US Gaza official resigns over frustration with Biden policy

Mike Casey, the US State Department’s deputy political counselor on Gaza, resigned in July, citing disillusionment with the Biden administration’s approach to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Casey, one of only two US government officials explicitly focused on Gaza, described US policy as largely dictated by Israeli interests.

“I got so tired of writing about dead kids,” he said. “Just constantly having to prove to Washington that these children actually died and then watching nothing happen.”

“We don’t have a policy on Palestine. We just do what the Israelis want us to do,” Casey told The Guardian. The US Army veteran, who served four years at the State Department, added, “I was too embarrassed to continue being an American diplomat.”

Casey’s responsibilities included leading interagency efforts on Gaza’s political and security issues. However, his proposals for Gaza’s reconstruction were repeatedly dismissed in favor of Israeli-backed ideas, including governance by local clans—a concept he criticized as unworkable.

Amid the escalating conflict, Casey documented Gaza’s humanitarian crisis through classified reports and daily updates, which he said were ignored. He expressed deep frustration when President Joe Biden publicly questioned Gaza’s death toll, figures Casey had painstakingly verified. “What’s the point of me writing this stuff if you’re just going to disregard it?” he said.

Since the war began in October 2023, more than a dozen US officials have resigned over Gaza policy, including figures from the Department of Education and senior arms sales officials.

Casey, now working at a bank in Michigan, lamented the inaction and constant need to justify reports of “dead kids,” which he found unbearable.