Standing with Israel As It Defends Itself Against the Barbaric War Launched By Hamas and Other Terrorists
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear: I have condemned Hamas for their heinous attacks on civilians and call for an immediate release of the Israeli hostages. I continue to call for the safety of all civilians in the Middle East.
Unfortunately, today's resolution H. Res. 771 is horribly one-sided. By failing to acknowledge the growing loss of Palestinian lives or that all Palestinians are not Hamas, this resolution creates further division and spurs harmful rhetoric.
We must defend our Jewish brothers and sisters from Antisemitism. Muslims must also be defended from Islamophobia, and not have their patriotism questioned because they believe in justice for Palestinians.
As a senior Member of the Intelligence Committee and through my work on the Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee--and having spent many years working in law enforcement--I am concerned that these kinds of one-sided resolutions have become and will continue to be recruitment tools for extremists.
This is why I am co-leading H. Res. 786, the Ceasefire Now Resolution, which I believe is the best way to prevent further tragic loss of life to Palestinian civilians and simultaneously ensure the safe return of hostages. Only then can we begin to move towards a long- term, two-state solution that includes both Palestinians and Israelis living in peace and liberation, side by side.
This resolution rightly mourns the nearly 1,400 Israelis and Americans killed and wounded. But it completely ignores the mounting deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza since October 7th, which has reached an estimated 5,761--including over 2,360 children killed and over 870 children missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Provided below, for the Record, are updated assessments about the destruction and deaths that civilians have suffered.
Pain and grief know no boundaries. The United States fails in our duties as an international leader if we do not wholeheartedly condemn all violations of international law, whether it is committed by Hamas or the Israeli government.
The United States urgently needs a new approach to this decades-long conflict. The roots of these problems existed long before October 7th. The Israeli government's 16-year blockade on Gaza has been identified by major human rights organizations as collective punishment and a war crime--and it has resulted in poor health, social, educational, physical, and political infrastructure throughout Palestine.
Although I will vote ``no'' on this resolution, I urge every colleague who will vote today for H. Res. 771, to join me in bringing H. Res. 786 to the floor for a Ceasefire Now. UNRWA Situation Report #14 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) All information valid as of 24 October 2023 at 18:00 (local time)--Day 17 of hostilities 1. Key Points
More than 613,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) are sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza strip.
In the last 24 hours, another three UNRWA staff members have been killed, bringing the total to 38 staff killed since 7 October. Two have been injured, one of whom is in a critical condition.
One school in Rafah, sheltering 4,600 IDPs, sustained severe collateral damage due to a close proximity strike. One IDP was killed and 44 more were injured, including nine children.
Fuel is urgently needed to continue the UNRWA lifesaving humanitarian operations. If fuel is not received into Gaza, UNRWA will be forced to significantly reduce and in some cases bring its humanitarian operations across the Gaza Strip to a halt. The coming 24 hours are very critical. 2. Overall Situation The Gaza Strip
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 5,791 people have been killed since 7 October, including 2,360 children, 1,292 women, 295 elderly, and 16,298 were injured. This is in addition to the 1,550 reported missing, presumably under the rubble of destroyed buildings, including 870 children.
Overall, nearly 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, according to the Israel authorities, the vast majority on 7 October (OCHA).
In the West Bank, 95 people have been killed and nearly 1,900 injured since 7 October.
Overcrowding conditions in UNRWA shelters remain a serious concern, as the current facilities can no longer provide dignified living conditions. Some shelters are currently hosting 10 to 12 times more people than their designed capacity. 3. Humanitarian Access & Protection of Civilians THE GAZA STRIP
Since 7 October, 38 UNRWA colleagues were killed and 20 have been injured, with one in critical condition.
At least 42 UNRWA installations have been impacted since 7 October. 4. UNRWA Response THE GAZA STRIP
UNRWA Shelters:
The average number of IDPs per shelter has reached 2.7 times capacity, with some shelters reaching 12 times intended occupancy. In the Middle Area, one school is hosting up to 13,300 IDPs, while another facility in Khan Younis is hosting 21,000 persons.
UNRWA continues to distribute assistance in shelters; however current conditions severely constrain access to essential services and represent a health and protection risk for IDPs.
Health:
The eight UNRWA health centres that remain operational in the South (out of 22) recorded 4,200 visits on 24 October for refugees and non-refugees. In addition to essential primary healthcare, post-natal and high-risk pregnancy care services resumed on 24 October with 40 displaced women receiving this service. Healthcare support for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) patients continued.
Healthcare services were maintained within the UNRWA shelters, with the support of 93 mobile medical units and medical teams, serving around 10,000 cases at shelters.
According to initial health assessments from the mobile medical teams there are over 37,500 persons with NCDs, over 4,660 pregnant women and around 390 post-natal cases requiring medical attention among the IDPs. In addition, medical teams are increasingly identifying cases of acute respiratory and diarrhea among children under five years old.
UNRWA's stocks of medicines are critically decreasing with availability for a few more days only.
UNRWA primary health centres are running out of fuel, threatening the provision of essential healthcare services.
Psychosocial Support:
UNRWA has counsellors and social workers in the shelters, who provide psychological first aid and other specialized protection services. Since the beginning of the crisis, UNRWA social workers provided 8,900 people with psychosocial support and social work services. These include cases that are referred for medication and other specialized mental health and psychosocial support interventions.
Protection/Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU):
UNRWA conducted a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) to identify the different impacts of the war on women, man, girls and boys and better understand their different needs and coping strategies. The RGA highlighted the following:
There is a shortage of feminine hygiene supplies and very few toilets. This results in increased challenges for females to maintain menstrual hygiene.
Overcrowding and limited privacy increase familial tensions (which can increase the risk of GBV) and broader tensions between males.
There are critical gaps in access to health services that particularly affect women and adolescent girls, including access to comprehensive emergency obstetric care, newborn care and sexual and reproductive health services.
Water and Sanitation Services (WASH):
Some solid waste collection from the camps and from emergency shelters and transfer to landfills continues in Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas with difficulties due to the scarcity of fuel and staff.
Water wells in Jabalia, Khan Younis and Rafah are functional with about 11,000 m\3\ being pumped from nine water wells.
Despite the limited availability of fuel, desalination plants continue to operate in the shelters for the provision of potable water. Water trucking operations in shelters in Rafah and Khan Younis also continue; however, the potable water provided is not enough to meet all needs.
Maintenance and rehabilitation work at shelters continue on a daily basis. This includes essential repairs and upgrading of shelters to accommodate additional IDPs when possible, as well as the installation of mobile showers and toilet units.
This resolution, while mourning the devastating loss of Israeli civilian life, fails to even acknowledge the killing and targeting of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military. It uses incendiary language that encourages the suffocating military siege of the Gaza Strip and that escalates violence and war.
Furthermore, by stating Congressional support for possible shipment of further US weapons to the Israeli military, this resolution will significantly worsen and exacerbate violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians alike.
Since this resolution was introduced, the Israeli government and military have continued to carry out shocking and horrifying violence, including clear and documented war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. It does not even so much as acknowledge the overwhelming loss of life of Palestinians.
The Israeli military has already targeted Palestinian residential buildings, in some cases wiping out entire generations of the same Palestinian family, killed over 2,000 children, attacked first responders, demolished mosques, and bombed schools. The Meeks McCaul resolution fails to name or address any of these war crimes, or to even acknowledge that Palestinian civilians have been killed by the Israeli military.
Several days ago, after this resolution was introduced, the Israeli Air Force announced that it had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza in six days. Experts have said that this means Israel has dropped, in less than a week, the same amount of bombs that the U.S. dropped in a year of war in Afghanistan--and in a much smaller and more densely populated area. Those of us who want to build a future toward peace must wake up and speak out against this.
Israeli officials themselves have stated clearly that they are carrying out collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza and use dehumanizing rhetoric that fuels the violence. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said: ``I have ordered a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.'' As members of Congress, it is our moral obligation not to support or echo these calls.
Last Friday, after this resolution was introduced, the Israeli military called for all civilians of Gaza City--1.1 million people--to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground invasion. The UN responded that evacuating everyone was impossible, with power supplies cut and food and water running short after Israel placed Gaza under total siege, and said this would have ``devastating humanitarian consequences.'' The scale of atrocities is enormous.
Doctors Without Borders staff say that painkillers and anesthesia for operations have run out in Gaza, and sick patients are screaming in pain while they also face the looming threat of bombardment. They have called on Israel to ``show humanity''--and we in Congress must do the same.
More quotes from Israeli government officials reflecting dehumanizing and violent rhetoric, and intentions to carry out collective punishment against Palestinians in Gaza:
``I have ordered a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.'' Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant
``This is a war between the children of light and the children of darkness . . . It will be a deadly war.'' Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
``Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home.'' Israeli Minister of Energy Israel Katz
``Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents. There will be no buildings.'' Israeli security official
``I say to the residents of Gaza: leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.'' Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Palestinian civilians are literally unable to flee or leave, because they are trapped under a 16-year Israeli military siege.
``Right now, one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 48.'' Israeli Member of the Knesset Ariel Kallner, referring to 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and land.
``It's time to be cruel.'' Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
``We need to deliver a blow that has not been seen for 50 years and take down Gaza.'' Israeli Member of the Knesset Haim Katz
``Hamas has opened the gates of hell into the Gaza strip.'' Head of the Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories
Specifics notes on the resolution:
``Whereas on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists launched a massive, unprovoked war on Israel by air, land, and sea, including firing thousands of rockets;''
This whereas clause decontextualizes this violence, which did not begin on Saturday. Between January and September 2023, Israel killed 227 Palestinians, according to the UN. Israeli settlers have rampaged throughout Palestinian communities, torching houses and killing people. Entire Palestinian communities have been driven from their homes by Israeli settler violence. Israel has repeatedly attacked the more than 2 million Palestinians living under its more than 16-year siege of Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinian civilians, including hundreds of Palestinian children. Palestinians have endured more than 75 years of brutal Israeli rule, during which time tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. They have suffered from the systematic violation of their human rights by Israel since 1948 and have been denied their freedom and self- determination.
Whereas since October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists have killed over 700 Israelis and injured more than 2,500 others;
The failure of this whereas clause to mention the fact that Israel has killed more than 6,546 Palestinians since October 7, including over 2,000 children, is deeply problematic. All human life is precious and sacred. This deliberate erasure of Palestinians killed by Israel is deeply dehumanizing.
Whereas since October 7, 2023, Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians;
This whereas clause blames Palestinians for their own deaths. War crimes go not justify more war crimes. Israel has decided to attack Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by targeting residential buildings, hospitals, ambulances, schools, and mosques in one of the most densely populated places on earth, knowing full well the grievous toll that such attacks will inflict on Palestinian civilians. Israel, especially as the occupying power of the Gaza Strip under international law, is responsible for any violations of human rights and international law it commits, just as Hamas is responsible for any violations that it commits.
Whereas Hamas used rudimentary, civilian equipment such as bulldozers, paragliders, and rubber boats in its assault on Israel, demonstrating the importance of fully enforcing tight controls on what materials go into the Gaza Strip, including through thorough vetting of assistance;
This whereas clause advocates for the tightening of Israel's more than 15 year illegal siege against 2 million Palestinian civilians trapped in the Gaza Strip. Imposing collective punishment against civilians by denying them access to food, clean water, electricity, fuel, healthcare and medicine, etc.--all prominent components of Israel's illegal siege on Gaza--is a grave war crime.
Stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists;
Congress should stand with all victims of violence, not express selective concern for the lives of some but not others. This resolved clause dehumanizes the Palestinian people.
Mourns the over 700 Israelis killed and over 2,000 others wounded in Hamas' unprovoked attack on Israel;
The failure to even mention Palestinian deaths in this resolved clause is deeply problematic. Congress should mourn the loss of all civilians killed, including the more than 6,546 Palestinians since October 7, including over 2,000 children. All human life is precious and sacred. This deliberate erasure of Palestinians killed by Israel is deeply dehumanizing.
Stands ready to assist Israel with emergency resupply and other security, diplomatic, and intelligence support.
Congress should be taking steps to save lives and end the violence, not exacerbate the violence by sending additiona1 weapons to Israel. Israel is already committing apparent war crimes by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Providing Israel with more weapons deepens U.S. complicity in Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians and reinforces the existing, untenable status quo of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source