Chicago, Illinois - Presidential candidates Dr. Jill Stein, Claudia De la Cruz, and Dr. Cornel West appeared together at a press conference during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to speak out against the Biden-Harris administration's support for Israel's destruction of Gaza.

"The Democratic Party has not only been complicit, but it has been an investor, a collaborator, in genocide and in the slaughter and displacement of thousands of Palestinians – not only in the last 10 months, but in the last 76 years," the Party for Socialism and Liberation's Claudia De la Cruz told reporters on Monday.

"We need to sit and hold that truth as people in the belly of empire, and we must understand our historic responsibility to do something for the sake of humanity."

The news conference, organized by the Abandon Harris (formerly Abandon Biden) campaign, took place as Democratic delegates and leaders come together to celebrate the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

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Meanwhile, thousands of protesters are hitting the streets in Chicago in support of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestine. They are also calling for a US arms embargo against Israel – a move Harris does not endorse.

Abandon Biden launched ahead of the 2024 Democratic primaries to protest the White House's failure to negotiate a ceasefire to protect Palestinian lives from US-backed Israeli assault.

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein echoed DNC demonstrators' demands in her remarks and called ending the genocide in Gaza the "moral imperative of our time."

Israel has killed over 40,000 people in Gaza since October, according to the besieged territory's health ministry, as disease and starvation threaten the lives of millions more. At least 635 Palestinians in the West Bank have died at the hands of Israeli military and settlers in that same period.

Amid the violence and destruction, Stein urged voters to reject Democratic Party propaganda suggesting that a vote for a third-party candidate is the same as a vote for Republican Donald Trump.

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"If you vote for genocide, you are consenting to it and you are enabling it. Don't let them talk you into it. Don't let them talk you out of your humanity," she warned.

"Every vote against genocide is a shot across the bow of the empire, announcing that its days are numbered and that the opposition is getting organized and that we will not be stopped."

"We say forget the 'lesser evil.' Fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it, because our lives do depend on it."

The need for fearless and unrelenting solidarity with the Palestinian people was a common refrain during the press conference.

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West said, "I am here because I have an unstoppable love for my precious Palestinian brothers and sisters, and when you love people, you hate the fact that they are being treated unjustly and unfairly."

"I come from a Black people who've been hated and terrorized and traumatized for 400 years and yet taught the world so much about love and freedom and wounded healing," West continued.

"We'll raise our voices as long as we have vocal cords, because that's what it means to be a decent human being."

De la Cruz said Democrats will face consequences if they continue to ignore widespread calls for justice and peace.

"It is not only Biden. It is not only [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken. And it is not only Harris," she insisted. "It is the institution of the Democratic Party."

"The genocide in Gaza is not a single issue, Ms. Harris. This genocide is the biggest wake-up call to the world, and it is your deaf tone to our voices that will cause the demise of your party."