U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to urge protections for civilians in the fighting with Hamas, as Israeli troops tightened their encirclement of Gaza City.
More than 10 senators have joined President Joe Biden in his call for a “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war. One of those Senators, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, joined WTOP’s John Aaron and Michelle Basch to discuss what he hopes a pause would accomplish.
Read the conversation below:
Sen. Mark Warner: Israel has a right to defend itself and take out the Hamas leadership, which again, as recently as the last couple days have said, they are going to continue their efforts to exterminate the Jews from Israel. The same time, Israel’s gotta adhere to rules of war and, literally, thousands upon thousands of Palestinian killed and wounded, it does not help Israel if there is not humanitarian aid delivered to these individuals. I am in constant concern that this conflict could also spread through the West Bank, where unfortunately, the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank. If the Palestinian security services were all to quit tomorrow on the West Bank, Israel would have another whole front potentially emerge. So it is the right thing morally to do, to provide more additional humanitarian aid. It is also the right thing for the region and is right thing for so many Palestinians who are unduly suffering at this moment because some of Israeli actions have not had the kind of targeting that even the United States took during our toughest times against ISIS and Al Qaeda.
Michelle Basch: Well, Senator, what do you say to critics who say a ceasefire would allow Hamas time to regroup?
Sen. Mark Warner: We are calling for a pause, a cessation, a short cessation of hostilities to get additional aid in. We also said we’d like to see more movement on the hostages. But the notion that this relentless pounding of the Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, without humanitarian aid, that does not help Israel in terms of making its case that it is targeting Hamas, not individual citizens.
John Aaron: It’s of course, worth pointing out here, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, you just mentioned that you are concerned about this conflict spreading to the West Bank, are you concerned about the conflict spreading even more broadly than that?
Sen. Mark Warner: Absolutely. Hezbollah in Lebanon, could launch a second front, the West Bank if the Palestinian security services were somehow to disappear. And I’ve had that concern for some time. Because I think the current Israeli government has been, in terms of turning a blind eye sometimes to settler violence against Palestinians, has created a boiling pot on the West Bank. And end of the day, people will say, you know, are you holding Israel to a different standard? We’re holding Israel to the same standard of rules of war that the United States has been held to it, when other nations have been held to. I do expect more from Israel than I do from this kind of barbaric terrorist, Hamas, who did unspeakable things that October 7.
