Dem Sen. Van Hollen: ‘We Continue to See Unacceptably High Levels of Civilian Casualties’ in Gaza

Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the Israel-Hamas war was causing “unacceptably high levels of civilian casualties” in Gaza.

Partial transcript as follows:

VAN HOLLEN: We continue to see unacceptably high levels of civilian casualties. And when it comes to the humanitarian crisis, we still have a near total siege. Now, as of today, there may be some progress, Israel finally opening the Karim Shalom Crossing  which is a very important crossing. It shouldn’t take this long.

Look, President Biden’s been absolutely right to stand with Israel in the objective of ending the military threat from Hamas. No more October 7ths. But he’s also right that how Israel conducts this operation, how the Netanyahu government conducts this operation is important. And that is why it’s really essential that these issue be addressed. And they’re not being added sufficiently enough to my mind.

JONATHAN KARL: We also heard him this week, in a – in a closed even – but – but say that Israel was doing indiscriminate bombing, indiscriminate bombing and – and this was risking them losing support. That – that’s not a phrase that I’ve heard others in the administration repeat, or him repeat. Is that what Israel has been doing because that – I mean indiscriminate bombing, depending on how you define it, is potentially a war crime.

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Jon, look, here’s the bottom line. We do have unacceptably high levels of civilian casualties. We see very loose rules of engagement. Way loser than anything the United States would exercise. We would not drop a 2,000 pound bomb on a refugee camp to target a Hamas commander.

Just yesterday snipers fired into a church compound, killing a mom and her daughter, without warning. So, it is very important because the United States is not a bystander to this. We are a big supplier, of course. We supply military assistance to Israel.

KARL: We are. Yes.

VAN HOLLEN: So, we are with them entirely in the objective of ending the military threat. But again, we need to make sure that our values are reflected in this, so long as we are providing all of this equipment.

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