City councilors narrowly approve a non-binding resolution that also includes a call for humanitarian aid and the release of prisoners.

Chicago has become the latest city in the United States to call for a permanent ceasefire as Israel’s war on Gaza nears its four-month mark, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden ahead of the November election to help end the fighting.

After weeks of heated public meetings, city councilors in the third-largest city in the United States approved the non-binding resolution on Wednesday by a narrow vote of 24 to 23. The deciding vote was cast by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who also had to temporarily vacate the council chambers during the heated meeting.

The symbolic statement includes a call for humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip and for the release of all prisoners held in the enclave.

“Do I believe that the words we speak today, how we vote today, have a direct impact on international politics? I don’t. I have no such illusions,” said Councilman Daniel La Spata, one of the resolution’s sponsors. “But we vote with hope. We vote in solidarity. We vote to help people feel heard in a world of silence.”

The ordinance has remained largely unchanged in recent months, despite the urging of the council’s only Jewish member, Councilwoman Debra Silverstein, who called for more support for Israel and criticism of Hamas.

“We all want an end to the bloodshed and an end to the war. But it is important to understand what caused the conflict and we should adopt a resolution that addresses the problem responsibly,” she said during the meeting. “We should not pass a resolution unless it makes clear that Hamas cannot and should not attack again.”

Have Israeli attacks devastated The Gaza Strip has been subject to surprise attacks inside Israel since Hamas militants carried out Oct. 7, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel responded with a relentless air and ground offensive that killed nearly 27,000 people, about 70 percent of them children, women and the elderly.

The U.S. has given Israel $3.8 billion a year in military aid, ranging from fighter jets to powerful bombs, under Democratic and Republican presidents. But in recent months, Israel’s relentless military campaign against Gaza has exposed deep divisions in the US and anger is growing over the Biden administration’s foreign policy.

The resolution’s passage means Chicago now follows cities like Atlanta, Detroit and San Francisco in calling for a ceasefire.

An analysis of city data by Reuters this week found that at least 48 U.S. cities have passed symbolic resolutions calling for a halt to Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, while six others have passed resolutions more broadly calling for peace. At least 20 have passed resolutions condemning the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Most of the ceasefire resolutions were passed in Democratic states like California, although at least 14 were passed in swing states like Michigan that could be crucial to Biden’s reelection, most likely against former Republican President Donald Trump.

Many of the ceasefire calls are modeled on Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush’s “Ceasefire Now” resolution, which also calls for the release of prisoners and an increase in aid to Gaza.

At least nine of the ceasefire calls took place in Michigan, where Arab Americans make up five percent of the vote and Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020 was less than three percent. A poll in October showed Biden’s support among Arab Americans had fallen to 17 percent from 59 percent in 2020.

“Arab Americans will not vote for Joe Biden no matter what happens. That’s it. They’re done with Biden,” Sam Baydoun, a Wayne County commissioner, told Al Jazeera this week.

“This is the bottom line. “Joe Biden will not be able to regain the trust of the Arab-American community,” he said. reflects the frustration many members of the Arab American community towards Biden unwavering support for Israel.

Douglas Wilson, a Democratic strategist in the swing state of North Carolina, said the war is “something that will be on voters’ minds in the upcoming election.”

“It’s going to be a problem here and in all the swing states because of the Muslim population in those states, the Jewish population in those states and the black and brown populations [in] these states,” Wilson told Reuters.