Senator Bernie Sanders said Sunday that progressives’ call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict is unrealistic, declaring “Hamas has got to go.”
After Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, far-left lawmakers in Congress have demanded Israel halt its military retaliation and agree to a cease-fire. President Biden has attempted to placate this wing of his party by seeking a humanitarian “pause” in the war, to allow aid to get to Gaza civilians caught in the crossfire.
“I don’t know how you can have a permanent cease-fire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the state of Israel,” Sanders, the independent Vermont senator who caucuses with Democrats and is one of the Senate’s most liberal members, countered during an appearance on CNN Sunday. “I think what the Arab countries in the region understand is that Hamas has got to go.”
#BREAKING: Bernie Sanders rejects calls for a ceasefire to benefit Hamas.
“I don’t know how you can have a permanent cease fire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the state of Israel.
HAMAS HAS GOT TO GO” pic.twitter.com/IbdBMWprDO
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 5, 2023
Biden has faced mounting pressure from progressive activists and the “Squad” to urge Israel to lay down its arms. Protesters have mobilized in cities across the country for weeks to “free Gaza.” Last month, pro-Palestinian sympathizers congregated both around and inside the Cannon House Office Building to call for an Israeli cease-fire, leading to an estimated 300 arrests of demonstrators.
During that rally, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) again blamed Israel for a hospital blast that subsequent evidence showed was likely committed by a misfired rocket from Gaza. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also insisted that Biden should pressure Israel into accepting a cease-fire.
Israel recently moved into Gaza for a ground operation, marking the second phase of its war strategy after Hamas perpetrated the most brutal massacre against Jews since the Holocaust, not only killing 1,400 but torturing, raping, maiming, and kidnapping many others.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Secretary of State Antony Blinken Friday that Israel “refuses a temporary cease-fire that doesn’t include a return of our hostages.” He added that his nation will maintain its overwhelming military response to the atrocities, promising to keep bombarding the Gaza Strip with “all of its power.”
The Israel Defense Forces claims that Hamas holds over 240 hostages, likely trapped in the terrorist group’s underground network of tunnels. Hamas has been releasing hostages, such as a mother-daughter pair of Americans, in a slow trickle likely meant to delay Israel’s escalation. Only four hostages in total — the other two Israelis — have been freed.
A humanitarian pause would “increase security for civilians and permit the more effective and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance,” Blinken told the press on his fourth visit to Israel since Hamas’s attacks. “We are focused on getting hostages back to their families, and we believe a humanitarian pause could facilitate it.”
Netanyahu expressed concern that Hamas would exploit a hiatus in hostilities.
“A number of legitimate questions were raised by Israel including how to connect the pause to the release of hostages and how to make sure Hamas doesn’t use these pauses to its own advantage,” Blinken said. “These are issues we need to tackle urgently, and we believe it can be solved.”
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which is known to inflate casualty figures, claimed Thursday that over 9,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began.