Sen. Sanders: Israel Does Not Have the Right ‘to Violate International Law and Wage Indiscriminate Warfare Against Innocent Men, Women, and Children’

EXCERPT:

SANDERS: "Madam President, I wanted to take a few minutes to share my thoughts regarding the horrific situation in Israel and Gaza. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists waged a barbarous attack against Israel, killing over 1,400 innocent men, women and children. Young people at a music festival were machine-gunned down in cold blood. Babies and older people were brutally murdered. And over 200 Israeli and Americans are being held as hostages. Some people described the October 7th attack on Israel as the equivalent to the 9/11 terrorist attack against the United States. That is wrong. Israel is a small country with under 10 million people. On a per capita basis, the 1,400 Israelis killed by Hamas would be the equivalent of over 40,000 Americans killed if Israel had the same size population as we do. 40,000. On 9/11, as everybody recalls, we lost 3,000 people. Madam President, let us be clear: Israel suffered a major attack and has, as do all other countries under similar circumstances, the absolute right to defend itself. But having the right to defend your country against a terrorist attack and a terrorist organization like Hamas does not mean having the right to violate international law and wage indiscriminate warfare against innocent men, women and children in Gaza. The people of Israel have gone through a horrific and traumatic shock. It is understandable that they are furious and want to strike back forcefully. Revenge, however, is not a useful policy. Killing innocent Palestinian women and children in Gaza will not bring back to life the innocent Israeli women and children who have been killed. It will only make a terrible situation even worse and more intractable.“