Brian Garrison lives in South Portland.

The images coming out of Gaza are heartbreaking. Entire neighborhoods have been flattened. Families sift through the rubble searching for loved ones. Aid workers plead for safe corridors to deliver food, water and medicine. These scenes trouble the conscience, and they should.

They also raise a difficult question for us here in Maine: What responsibility do we carry when our own elected leaders help enable a conflict that has expanded far beyond the bounds of self-defense or international law?

This is not a matter of ideology. It is a matter of the legal and moral obligations that accompany American support for any foreign military. And it is a matter of whether Maine’s senators are willing to insist that those obligations be taken seriously.

According to data aggregated from Federal Election Commission filings and compiled by Track AIPAC, Sen. Susan Collins has received approximately $916,000 from donors associated with the pro-Israel lobby over the course of her career. Sen. Angus King has received approximately $206,000.

These contributions do not imply wrongdoing. They do, however, raise a fair question about how strongly our senators are willing to press the Israeli government to meet the obligations required by American law. When large sums of money support one side of a conflict, accountability becomes more difficult to demand.

And American law really does require accountability. The Leahy Law prohibits assistance to any foreign military unit when credible information exists that the unit has committed gross violations of human rights. The Foreign Assistance Act requires aid to be withheld from governments that obstruct humanitarian relief or engage in a consistent pattern of abuses. Section 502B is clear on this point. The Arms Export Control Act requires that U.S. supplied weapons be used only for legitimate self-defense and in accordance with international humanitarian law.

The situation in Gaza challenges each of these standards. Independent organizations, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, have documented large-scale civilian harm, blocked aid deliveries and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children. It is difficult to reconcile these realities with the legal requirements governing U.S. military assistance.

Many hoped that the recently announced ceasefire would bring relief. But the reality on the ground does not reflect the promise. Bombardment and raids have continued. Civilians who believed the fighting had paused were again forced to flee. A ceasefire that exists only on paper is not a ceasefire at all. It is a broken promise, and the human cost grows each day it remains unfulfilled.

Maine has a long tradition of plain speaking and moral clarity. We tend to call things as we see them. We value fairness, restraint and the protection of the vulnerable. These values do not stop applying when the suffering is happening far from home. We should not turn away from Gaza or from the role our own nation plays in this conflict. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is simply another form of permission.

We can support the safety of Israelis and Palestinians at the same time. We can acknowledge the fear and trauma on all sides while still insisting that our leaders uphold U.S. law and basic humanitarian principles. Accountability does not undermine security. Accountability is what allows security to take root.

It is time for Maine’s senators to speak with clarity. They should insist that U.S. assistance to Israel comply with the Leahy Law, the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act. They should press for a ceasefire that is honored in practice, not only stated in public announcements. And they should affirm that every civilian life has equal worth.

The people of Maine have a right to leadership grounded in conscience. The people of Gaza have a right to live. Both truths should guide our response.