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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to comment on the statement on Israel just made by my friend and colleague from the State of Wyoming.

I am proud of the fact that President Harry Truman was the first President to recognize Israel's right to exist, and I certainly concur with that sentiment to this day. The creation of the State of Israel after World War II was almost inevitable if this group of people were to exist.

The Holocaust was a reminder of the prejudice against many of the Jewish faith and the enduring struggle which they have been engaged in for decades, if not centuries.

It was the right thing to do.

There have been times in history when Israel stood with us when we desperately needed their help, and there have been times when we have disagreed with their policy. That has never diminished, for me personally or for our Nation, our commitment to Israel's right to exist and our commitment to the values that Israel stands for in the Middle East and around the world.

What happened on October 7 was horrific--horrific. Some 1,200 innocent Israelis were killed, butchered, murdered by terrorists under the flag of the Hamas movement. And, unfortunately, they took hostages as well. I don't know the exact number, but I believe it was over 250 hostages who were taken. Some still remain in captivity under the control of Hamas.

Israel is defending itself, and it has a right to do that. Israel certainly has a right to exist, and no terrorist organization on its border should be allowed to do so with impunity.

My concern--and it was expressed graphically, dramatically, in last Sunday's ``60 Minutes'' program. I commend that program to those who would like to see what is happening on the ground in Gaza.

It is estimated that 50,000 people have been killed or seriously wounded among the Palestinians. That goes way beyond any members of Hamas or any terrorist organization. They are innocent people, the Palestinians in the Gaza area, who are simply trying to exist. They are fighting every possible element, not only an act of war with armaments killing innocent people, a large number being women and children, but also the fact that they are restrained from leaving that area and going to surrounding countries, which don't want to see the controversy exported to their borders.

Secondly, there is the simple question of humanitarian assistance for the people in Gaza. There is a disparity in the reports from the area. Some report that the humanitarian aid is being held back from the Palestinians--innocent Palestinians--to the detriment of their hospitals and feeding their people. Some suggest that a famine is underway in some parts of Gaza.

I don't have any personal knowledge, but, I will tell you, the scenes that were depicted last Sunday on ``60 Minutes'' are heartbreaking.

Two doctors from Chicago had gone there risking their lives to volunteer to try to save the children and those who have been the victims of Israeli bombing. And I am sorry to say they have not been as successful as they would have liked to have been. But they reported to us graphically what is going on there with the lack of medical supplies, the lack of hospitals and basic food and sustenance that is needed by the people in that area.

By every single measure, this war has to end. If it is going to continue until every Hamas terrorist is killed, I am afraid there will be thousands and thousands of innocent Palestinians lost in the process. Why? Because the Hamas soldiers hide themselves among the general population and use them as their shield. It is a dastardly, deadly strategy which has cost so many lives.

Those of us who voted to restrain the weapons that were going to be sent by the United States to Israel did it with the understanding that there were particular weapons--for example, the detonation bombs that weigh a ton or more--that could kill innocent people and have, over and over again.

This war must come to an end. This cease-fire should be resumed, and the hostages returned immediately--all hostages returned immediately. I am not making any excuse for Hamas, but I have to tell you, after meeting with the doctors who have been there, it breaks my heart to think this continues every day, and innocent people are in the midst of this gunfire and losing their lives.

Whatever your cause may be, wherever you stand politically, we should all keep them in mind as we decide what our future course of action will be.

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