On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) responded to criticisms of a ceasefire push by arguing that because Hamas is in “an occupied piece of land” “There is no way to get missiles and guns in there” and Israel has barricaded the area.
Co-host Poppy Harlow then asked, “Congressman, those who oppose a ceasefire and echo what the president said…that, look, Hamas has in its charter the annihilation of Israel. And if it is not dealt with and you have a ceasefire now, how can the Israeli people feel protected? I wonder what you say to that criticism.”
Jackson responded, “Well, I am all for Israeli defense and their protection. People should not live in fear and in terror. But this is also an occupied piece of land. There is no way to get missiles and guns in there for — by sea, by air, certainly not by land. And so, you know where they are. Now, the question is, how do you get them out?”
Harlow then cut in to ask, “Congressman, how do you think they got all of those weapons?”
Jackson answered, “Of course, they had to come in through their Egyptian area, where we did not have a dialogue, we did not have a confirmed ambassador, and that was before this — before the [Israeli] Defense Force has now — has put a complete barricade around the area.”
Harlow then cut in to ask, “But you think that stops Iran, for example, from continuing to support Hamas in this way?”
Jackson responded, “Well, let’s be clear on what is Hamas. Hamas is also known in Arabic as its Islamic resistance organization. Hamas is not a standing army, as in the sense of, they have a defense headquarters. This is a spirit of a lot of people and we have to deal with the ideology of Hamas.”
Jackson later added that Hamas shouldn’t govern Gaza.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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