Israel
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is pretty well-known by Members of Congress--but it bears repeating--that on October 7, an atrocity occurred. The innocent people living in Israel were attacked by Hamas terrorists. What happened during the course of that attack is not a subject of just speculation; it is a fact.
Those of us who serve in the Senate had an opportunity 2 weeks ago, at the invitation of Senator Rosen, to see the actual videotapes of the horrible scenes that occurred when Hamas terrorists attacked innocent people in Israel, and 1,200 individuals were harmed. They were the victims of systemic rape, violence, murder, mayhem. Every single list of war crimes was checked off that day when the Hamas terrorists attacked. For those of us who are committed to the survival and future of Israel, it was a horrible occurrence. More Jews died on October 7 of this year than at any time since the Holocaust during World War II--a terrible tragedy.
Does Israel have the right to exist? The answer is, clearly, yes. Does Israel have the right to defend itself? The answer is yes. Should Israel make sure that they are safe in light of all of the Hamas terrorists in Gaza? Certainly.
Having said that, there is another part to this story. The reaction of Israel to what happened on October 7 has been measured by many different people in many different ways.
This is what we know: There are 80 percent of the people who live in Gaza who have been displaced and moved to locations that are supposedly safe, which sometimes are and sometimes are not; 60 percent of the dwelling places in Gaza have been destroyed so that families can no longer live in the areas they once lived in.
The third point I want to make is, the number of people who have died as a result of this conflagration between Hamas terrorists and Israelis--which is now in the range of 13,000 to 17,000 people--70 percent of those who have died--innocent people who have died--have been women and children. It is the largest loss of life of children in a wartime setting in modern times, and it gets worse every single day. We see the pictures. We see the videos. We see the news reports. It is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion.
Once President Biden made it clear that, on behalf of the United States, we stand behind Israel, he has spent every moment since urging the Israelis to show caution in their activities and military campaigns because too many innocent people are being victimized.
Yesterday, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Guterres, said that we have to return to a situation where there is at least an opportunity for peace and to stop the fighting. A ceasefire, he called for. Some have criticized him for it. I applaud him. I think it is the only thing that we can do to stop the wanton killing of innocent people in Gaza.
There are solutions to the problem in that area that are not military entirely, only partially. Primarily, they are political. There has to be an understanding between the Palestinian people and those living in Israel that there is an opportunity for peace, and they have to trust one another to enact that. You can't do that with the end of the barrel of a gun.
I believe this idea of having an end to hostilities so that we can complete the exchange of hostages is critical. The longer we wait, the less likely these hostages can survive. They are calling on the Israeli Government and I am joining them in saying that we need another period of peace to try to negotiate more releases before these hostages die-- and the military operations that are taking place.
So I urge the leaders in our government and those involved to think of the innocent people who are dying--the children, the women, elderly folks--as a result of this campaign and to find a peaceful solution, which starts, as far as I am concerned, with the decision not to move forward with the military operations.
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