On Friday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “The Quest Means Business,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said “there has to be a better way” for Israel to fight Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack. “Israel is an expert in tracking,” he said. Years after the incident, he killed a known terrorist. ”
Host Richard Quest asked, “So how far do you support the United States putting more pressure on Israel?” And, of course, everyone knows that so far the screws have not been turned so tightly, be it military, economic, whatever. Would you like more favor?
Connolly replied: I don’t think it covers anything that happened after October 7th. Israel used dam bombs. Two-thirds of all buildings in northern Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, and similar damage is now feared to occur in the south, especially around Rafah. Thirty thousand civilian casualties, if that is an accurate figure, is far too high a price to pay for targeting Hamas terrorists. You can target Hamas, and if you are Israel you have the right to do so, but you cannot sacrifice 30,000 civilian lives and another 60,000 injured. Almost 100,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in this invasion, an unacceptable toll by any measure. And it seems to me that Israel should be concerned about that, especially given its fundamental documents and values. But even if we don’t, we must. So I think we need to put more pressure on it. ”
Mr. Quest then asked, “So what will Israel do? The fundamental fear is, I think you’ll agree, that Hamas will somehow — pardon the expression — survive and move on.” It is feared that they will fight, reunite, and rise again in the coming days.” This is an existential threat to Israel that the Israeli government fears. ”
“And Israel absolutely has the right to be concerned about that and go after Hamas after the terrorist atrocities of October 7th. I absolutely believe they have that right,” Connolly said. However, this approach would create a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, putting millions of people at risk of starvation, disease, and dehydration, and resulting in the loss of innocent civilians, children, women, and the elderly. That is the price to be paid. There has to be a better way. Israel is good at tracking down known terrorists years after the incident. We systematically tracked down the Olympic killers for many years. So they know how to do it. And they’re doing it even as we speak. But what? We cannot say that millions of civilian casualties are the necessary price that we have to pay or that the Palestinian people have to pay. That is unacceptable.”
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