November 14, 2023 at 5:25 p.m
Rep. Gregory Meeks expressed concern Tuesday that in addressing the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, “people have forgotten or are no longer talking about the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israeli civilians.”
“We have to take action against Hamas,” the New York Democrat told “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Jonathan Lemire. He pointed out that with increasing concern over Israel’s military response in Gaza last month, Israelis “understand the difference between the Palestinians and Hamas, but people don’t talk enough about Hamas and the tragedies it has caused and “continues to cause harm”.
Meeks’ assessment came after his return to Washington, D.C. from Israel, where as a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he helped lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel, where lawmakers met with Israeli leaders and a private screening of footage received attack from Hamas.
Meeks said the trip was “very, very important” and the first time members of the House of Representatives could travel to Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks.
“It’s heartbreaking on all sides. “I felt that … people have forgotten or are no longer talking about the slaughter of the Israeli people and the evil of Hamas,” Meeks said Tuesday. “And Hamas continues to do certain things. They use individuals as shields, Palestinians as shields, and put them in danger. We have to take action against Hamas.”
Meeks further noted that after his visit abroad, he felt that the war was not being adequately discussed in its full context, adding that he believed that the Israeli military and the country’s population understood the difference between Hamas and Hamas know Palestinians.
“I felt when I spoke to many Israeli people and leaders that they understand the difference between the Palestinians and Hamas, but people don’t talk enough about Hamas and the tragedies it has caused and continues to cause,” Meek said.
He continued: “It is heartbreaking for the people of Israel who just want to exist. They have the right to exist, people recognize that they have the right to exist, who want peace, and they can clearly see that Hamas does not want that. And the people of Israel have also told me that they want to ensure that we limit and eliminate the number of innocent Palestinians in order to eliminate the dangers that they face primarily from Hamas.
“Then there are Palestinians who don’t like Hamas, who just want hope and then a chance at opportunity,” he said elsewhere in the segment. “But they are now involved in this fight. So it’s a very heartbreaking and difficult situation. And I think we really need to talk about it.”
On Tuesday, more than 400 employees of President Joe Biden’s administration signed an open letter calling for an end to unrest in the Israel-Hamas war.
“We represent a coalition of political appointees and officials in the Biden-Harris Administration who are active in all areas of domestic and foreign policy, working in federal agencies, departments, independent agencies and the White House,” the letter said. “We call on President Biden to urgently call for a ceasefire; and to call for a de-escalation of the current conflict by ensuring the immediate release of Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other essential services; and the provision of adequate humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.”
As of Friday, the Health Ministry said over 11,000 Palestinian civilians had died in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes and ongoing ground operations. More than 1,400 Israelis died as a result of Hamas attacks on October 7.
Source : www.thewrap.com