Progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke with CNN on Sunday and voiced his opposition to a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
"I think it's clear to most people that what Hamas did, Hamas is an awful, terrible terrorist organization, is that they slaughtered 1,400 people in cold blood. Israel has a right to defend itself. But what Israel does not, in my view, have the right to do is to kill thousands and thousands of innocent men, women, and children who had nothing to do with that attack. So the immediate concern is, we got to stop the bombing now. You had 600,000 people pushed out of their homes, where're they going? They're staying in UN facilities. Overcrowded, there's not enough water, there's not enough food, there's not enough medicine, there's not enough fuel. You have a humanitarian disaster that has to be dealt with right now," Sanders stated.
When asked how Israel should fight Hamas while the terrorists hide behind civilians, the Senator said that military experts should be asked the question, not him. He added, however: "Clearly, Israel has the right to defend itself, Hamas has sworn that its goal is to destroy Israel; they have to deal with that, but there's gotta be a better way than killing thousands of men, women, and children."
According to Sanders, continued US aid to Israel should depend on Israel changing its military strategy so as not to harm civilians.
The Senator also called on wealthy Arab states to assist the Palestinian civilians, "Saudi Arabia and Qatar, they are extraordinarily wealthy, work with the US, work with the community in order to provide some hope and decency and freedom for the Palestinian people, which Hamas will never do."
Despite his support for a pause in the fighting, Senator Sanders says he does not support a ceasefire, "I don't know how you can have a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and destroying the State of Israel. And I think what the Arab countries in the region understand is that Hamas has got to go. So what we need right now is to end the bombing, to end the horrific humanitarian disaster, to go forward with the whole world with a two-state solution to the crisis, to give the Palestinian people hope."
Sanders also refused to criticize former progressive US Representative Rashida Tlaib, who praised the chant "from the river to sea Palestine will be free" and accused Israel of committing genocide. "Words matter, but what matters more is that you have a horrible humanitarian disaster that has to be dealt with, you call it whatever you want."