On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that expecting Israel to “allow Hamas to reload” without anything in exchange is absurd and noted that Hamas likes steal aid has stripped Palestine “of all the necessities that they have needed to have any quality of life.”
Manchin said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:50] “How would you expect Israel or any other country that’s been barbarically attacked the way they were to say, at least, give us back our hostages, give us our citizens back, we’ll sit down, maybe we can work through this, but we’re going to wipe out Hamas one way or another with the least amount of infliction on the innocent citizens? It’s horrible they’re caught in between. I’ve tried to describe what I understand. When countries — civilized countries go to war because of disputes, there [are] basically the rules of war, when we use our military machinery, our military might to protect our citizens. When terrorist organizations go to war or conflict, they use their innocent citizens to protect their war efforts. That’s what you’re dealing with, and you have to understand that.”
He continued, “To ask them to stand down and allow Hamas to reload without getting anything in return — and I said I’d be the first one that would encourage, let’s basically, — we got our hostages all back, sit down, let’s work through this, get the Arab[s] and the Egyptians and the Arab Muslim countries to basically come into that part of the world. But to ask them not to get anything in return except stand down and allow them to reload — and making sure that we can identify and making sure that the aid that’s being needed from food and necessities, as far as medical, is getting to the right people that need it and not the military that’s going to take it and use it. Hamas has basically stripped that country of all the necessities that they have needed to have any quality of life.”
Host Bret Baier then said, “We should say, Hamas rejected the latest offer.” Manchin acknowledged that.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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