hill for the house foreign affairs committee. we will get an update from pentagon and state department officials on the ongoing israel hamas war. this is live coverage on c- span3. on saturday, october 7 israelis woke to rockets raining down on them from gaza and hamas terrorists breaking down their doors. they were invaded with over 1400 people brutally murdered including over 30 americans. hamas terrorists killed babies and toddlers. they killed grandmothers and grandfathers, moms and dads, teenage kids in their home. no one was spared. innocent civilians were slaughtered because of their

ancestry and faith. at least 241 people were taken hostage by hamas and are still being held in gaza. one of the most horrific stories to emerge, a pregnant woman had her baby cut out of her and murdered in front of her before they shot her in the head. october 7 was the deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust. i was in the border last year meeting with members of the community and i saw their daycare center and the children and that same kibbutz was overrun by 70 terrorists and many residents i met were slaughtered and most viciously, the babies and children i visited in the daycare center were slaughtered and shot to death, beheaded, and even burned alive. just yesterday this committee unanimously passed a resolution demanding that hamas release the hostages. the house also held a vigil on the capitol

steps working one month since october 7 massacre. what the world has seen at the bloody hands of hamas is unfathomable. the depravity of these terrorists knows no bounds. with me be clear about one thing. all roads lead to iran. their fingerprints are all over this attack. they have consistently funded hamas and other palestinian terrorist groups to the tune of $100 million per year. we are witnessing in real time hamas carry out their covenant from 1988, which states that israel will exist and will continue to exist until islam will obliterate it just as it obliterated others before it. and now it is not just hamas, hezbollah is launching near daily attacks on northern israel. they have launched multiple attacks against israel and

iran's proxies in iraq and syria have launched at least 41 attacks on u.s. troops since october 7. simply put, the middle east is on fire. i am grateful to the assistant secretary and deputy assistant secretary of defense for appearing before us here today. it is critical that we discuss this dangerous urgent situation and the administration's response. i have often spoke about the importance of deterrence. the administration is positioning major defense assets in the middle east including two carrier strike groups, an ohio class nuclear submarine, air defense batteries, u.s. air force fighter jets and additional servicemen and women. we are also expediting significant arms transfers to israel so they can defend themselves at every front that is needed. however, deterrence is not only

a show of strength, it is not the only show of strength, but the will to use it. weakness only invites aggression. it is imperative that we continue to project strength and stand united with israel. now more than ever, the world is in need of american leadership and we need it now. i would like to thank the witnesses for being here today. with that, i would like to recognize my dear friend and the ranking member, mr. meeks. >> thank you, chairman. with me begin by thanking both of you personally assistant secretary dana stroul as well as your teams at the state and defense departments. we recognize the excellent work you are doing, but we also know how hard it is at the human level to deal with such a crisis. as we hold this hearing, israel worst attack on the jewish people since the holocaust.

what we have seen unfold on our tvs and in our newspapers over the last four weeks has been an extraordinarily painful event to watch. hamas terrorists killed more than 1400 innocent civilians. women, men, children, elderly and babies in cold blood. following this, hamas has used thousands of palestinians, including far too many children as human shields. these images of death and destruction in gaza, if you are human, they have to hunt you. i know it haunts me. and i will never shake them. hamas has made it clear to all of us watching that they do not exist to serve the palestinian people. hamas does not want peace.

hamas does not want a palestinian state living side- by-side with a jewish state. there was a cease-fire on october 6, and it was hamas who broke it in the most terrible way possible. it is hamas who is holding some of the palestinian people from getting to safe places. so i applied the biden administration for working to address the humanitarian catastrophe in gaza brought on by hamas and their war. and they could end this today, just surrender. and nobody else gets killed. just surrender.

the united states has provided an initial contribution of $100 million and will be providing more upon passage of a comprehensive supplemental bill. we are calling for humanitarian pauses, which would allow humanitarian goods to enter, and for civilians to get out of harms way and we continue to support the establishment of safe zones where gazans can seeks shelter. we have facilitated the movement of life-saving supplies through egypt and are working to increase these deliveries. ambassador leaf, i hope you can share additional information about the work to support the civilians in gaza despite the challenging conditions. i had hoped also that our body

would have taken the matter of funding for israel and the humanitarian crisis unfolding around the world in gaza with the same seriousness as the administration has, quite frankly. unfortunately, i don't believe we have. instead, speaker johnson and his leadership, it seems to be last week we played some politics with our national security. support for funding for israel time and again has been a bipartisan matter and congress has kept out of politics. and we have given israel aid without any conditions. it is unfortunate that at this critical time this has changed. speaker johnson brought the israel only supplemental to the floor. this is unprecedented and it conditions aid on domestic

policy objectives and stands no chance of passing through the senate. the united states has an indispensable role to play in the world. and i hope for israel, and our own sake, that we don't play politics and don't play political games. we must pass a comprehensive supplemental for israel and it is also interconnected with what we have to do in ukraine. and interconnected with what we have to do in taiwan. and i would also include our southern border as soon as possible. these issues are connected and should be free of politics. they are about our national security and america's leadership globally. so i want to conclude by raising an issue that the united states and regional

partners must address, what does a successful ground operation in gaza look like and who will administer the gaza strip if israel's efforts are successful? i will be raising those questions. so in the days, the weeks and months ahead, i know the united states will continue to stand steadfastly with israel to ensure its long-term security and also as president biden has outlined, remain committed to ensuring that civilians in gaza have access to safe areas and continue to have access to food, water, medical care and other assistance without diversions by hamas. they must also stay keenly focused on working to keep american citizens to exit safely and bring all of our hostages home. that me end by saying thank you once again for the witnesses being here and i look forward to hearing from you in a short while.

>> the gentleman yields. at me say, i also agree we need to move swiftly on a national security aid package that addresses the threat from russia to ukraine and the threat from communist china to taiwan in the pacific and the threat from ayatollah and iran to israel by its proxies in the southwest border to stop these threats from coming in. you know, i find it amazing, the extent to which russia and iran have lined up against israel in this epic struggle. we are pleased to have a distinguished panel of witnesses before us today on this important topic. the assistant secretary at the department of state, miss dana stroul, the deputy assistant director of defense. they recognize the importance of the issues before us and we

are grateful to have both state and dod here at the same time to speak with us here today. your full statements will be made part of the record and i look forward to your testimony. i now recognize the assistant secretary barbara leaf for her opening statement. >> sorry, chairman mccall, thank you for inviting me to testify today on this important set of issues. i want to underscore the urgency of the presidents full civil mental assistance request including $3.5 billion for israel, $200 million in state department operational funds to meet the needs of embassy security and u.s. citizen services and $10 million in global humanitarian assistance. i returned monday from the region after spending two weeks there. i joined antony blinken with meetings with israel and our partners aimed at mistreating

support, consistent with humanitarian law, preventing the conflict from spreading, securing release of hostages including american citizens and addressing the humanitarian crisis in gaza. the secretary urged israeli leaders to work humanitarian pauses into the campaign to allow more critical aid into gaza to enable civilians to access aid and move to safer locations and to further the release of hostages. he also underscored the u.s. commitment to negotiating a two state solution is the only way to achieve a just terrible solution. we met regional partners who, like us, see iran and its proxies working to exploit this crisis. we made clear we will not stand by idly if others join or escalate the conflict. the october 7 terrorist attack was the worst attack on israel since the 1973 yom kippur war. but no prior conflict targeted civilians to this extent. many evoked the trauma of the

holocaust. how israel conducts this war matters deeply. the u.s. stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian lives during conflict. thousands of civilians have been killed and palestinians must not suffer the consequences for the terrorist attacks of hamas. as the secretary said, there will be no partners for peace if they are consumed by humanitarian catastrophe and alienated by perceived indifference to their plight. in support of u.s. citizens, a task force has been operating to coordinate government efforts since october 7 to protect them and our diplomatic personnel and facilities. over 14,000 citizens and family members have departed israel, the west bank and gaza. some 1500 departures were directly facilitated by the u.s. government. since november 1, more than 400 u.s. citizens have exited

gaza. nearly all of our locally employed staff and their families have departed as well. there are about 700 legal permanent residents and family members in gaza requesting assistance to the part, and we are making every effort to enable their departure. securing the release of u.s. nationals is an overriding priority and we appreciate the forthright and tireless assistance. the secretary has instructed the envoy for hostage affairs to do everything possible to support these efforts. he has the full backing of indices in cairo and jerusalem .2 prevent wider conflict the message is clear, iran and its proxies should stay out of the conflict. secretary antony blinken discussed the critical role the palestinian authority security forces play in preventing conflict in areas under their

control in the west bank and we have seen serious work in that direction. we have also urged israel to uphold the rule of law and rain and extremists. this violence inflames an already explosive environment. president biden appointed david satterfield, one of our most seasoned career diplomats to address the humanitarian crisis in gaza. as a result of u.s. leadership, it is open and 560 truckloads of life-saving supplies have entered gaza. they are hardly sufficient, but it is a work in progress. we have urged israel to restore access to electricity and water and allow fuel for desalination, wastewater treatment and basic activities for civilians. our partners are scrutinizing our response as are the strategic partners. after years of false narratives claiming the u.s. is abandoning the region, we are demonstrating that we stand

resolutely by our partners. as others offer hollow statements the u.s. conducts hard-nosed diplomacy finding solutions but we must be clear about what lies ahead. the secretary heard from regional partners that the imperative is the immediate protection of palestinian civilians, thus the calls for a cease-fire. they fear the reparable displacement of the palestinian people and they want to know how much political capitol the u.s. is willing to invest and they want u.s. leadership. i close by thinking the mentee for continued support. the biden demonstration is poised to work with you to hold hamas accountable to prevent the widening of the conflict and to protect civilians. we cannot return to the environment before october 7 for israel or the palestinians. i look forward to your questions. >> i recognize assistant secretary dana stroul. >> chairman mccall, distinguished members of the

committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today alongside assistant secretary barbara leaf. the commitment to israel's right to defend itself from terrorism is ironclad. we mourn the israelis, americans, and citizens of countries around the world who were murdered by hamas on october 7. we also morning thousands of palestinian civilians who have died during this conflict. the department of defense has organized our effort along the following lines. first, protecting american forces and interests in the region. second, supporting israel's right to defend itself, consistent with international humanitarian law. third, coordinating closely with israel on hostage recovery efforts, and forth, containing the conflict to gaza. the volume of disinformation and misinformation perpetuating false narratives about this conflict is deeply troubling. the department of state

designated hamas a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. hamas is responsible for the apartment terrorist attack in israel and israel is executing military operations to ensure that hamas is never again able to perpetuate a terrorist attack like it did in october. hamas is using civilians as human shields, blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid. while having released four hostages, they continue to hold at least 200 civilians, including americans. palestinian civilians are not terrorists. they must have immediate access to life-saving humanitarian aid and deserve to live in peace, security and dignity in a state of their own. as the department of defense works along the lines of effort i articulated, iran backed militia groups are attacking u.s. forces. since october 17 u.s. bases

and facilities in iraq and syria have been attacked 41 times. on october 26, at president biden's direction, u.s. forces conducted precision self- defense strikes in eastern syria , used and operated by iran's revolutionary guard corps and its affiliates. we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people. in response to a pattern of iranian backed attacks against u.s. personnel and facilities, and the continuing threat of future attacks, the united states has taken, and as necessary, will continue to take military action against them and their affiliates. this includes the use of force and personnel and facilities in the central command area of responsibility. with the intention to convince

them to de-escalate threats against the united states, our interests and people. current u.s. posture in the middle east is significant and dod has demonstrated its ability to rapidly project additional power into the theater. since october 7 we have deployed missile-defense systems, additional fighter squadrons, two strike troops and a nuclear powered guided missile submarine. we also placed over 2000 personnel and eight range of units on heightened readiness, some of which subsequently deployed. these deployments demonstrate our commitment to israel's security, to regional stability, and to deterring those who seek to widen this conflict. it also bolsters the department's ability to respond quickly to the evolving security environment. with respect to supporting israel, we are working around the clock to determine which

emissions and equipment from u.s. inventory can quickly be made available. air defense is a high priority, as are medical supplies, artillery, ammunition and precision guided munitions. deliveries are taking place on a nearly daily basis. with respect to supporting the release of hostages held by hamas, the department sent u.s. military personnel to israel to provide advice and support. we are conducting unarmed uav flights over gaza, only to support hostage recovery. finally, the department of defense is acutely focused on the importance of obligations related to civilian protection. under the law of war, all parties to armed conflict must comply with rules for the protection of civilians. in this war, protecting and supporting civilians is difficult for a range of reasons, including the fact that it is happening in a densely populated urban environment and that hamas is

using human shields, and because hamas placed rockets and weapons in civilian areas while digging tunnels under civilian infrastructure at protected sites like schools and hospitals. we made clear to israel every day that efforts to mitigate and respond to civilian harm are both a moral and strategic imperative. as the secretary of civilian harm mitigation states, hard earned tactical and operational successes may ultimately end in strategic failure if care is not taken to protect the civilian environment as much as the situation allows. that is precisely what the the art meant of defense is doing. thank you. >> i now recognize myself. two start out, just so i have some situational awareness of what is happening on the ground in gaza, according to my briefings, the idea is that israeli military forces are beginning to circle gaza

>> forces have circled gaza city with the goal of eliminating the military infrastructure of hamas.

the idea has also announced intentions to create a humanitarian area for the safe evacuation of civilians from northern gaza to southern gaza. there have also been plenty of reports of hamas blocking the safe evacuation of civilians. >> chairman mccall, there are a couple refinements that i will offer to your comments about rafa gait and trucks and fuel. so i cannot stress how ordinarily complex the operating environment is in that area. there is what they called the de facto authority, i.e. hamas on the other side. it has been a conflict zone at various points. we have, through the ambassador and his team, through the efforts of our mission in cairo, jerusalem and of course, people back year making calls, it has been a strenuous effort to keep it open, but the egyptians have had a wreck massively high degree of

concern about insecurity there given the conditions on the other side, so it has been opening and closing. >> they have had quite a history. these attacks on our soldiers, our troops in syria and iraq. i applied the administration support for israel and also the posture with the carrier strike groups and the nuclear submarine. i am concerned that it took a while to respond. there have been 19 attacks and there is only one response and it was after 19 attacks i should say. so we had to wait until almost 20 attacks took place before we even came in to respond to protect our troops there. and since that time there have been 20 more attacks. what are we doing to protect our troops in the region?

>> thank you for that question, mr. chairman. first of all, u.s. military strikes are not the only effort that the u.s. government is putting forward both to deter attacks and address the current attacks. that is why we increased posture and the message very loudly about the capabilities that the u.s. military has projected into the region in less than one month. we are working in full partnership with the state department diplomaticly through every possible channel to pass messages about our desire not to see regional conflict, to de- escalate. we are focused on supporting israel, but do not seek state or non-state actors to widen this conflict. we have made it explicit to our partners to state and nonstate actors -- >> time is running out. listen, i agree, deterrence will be the key here to prevent escalation. we do not want to see hezbollah get any more engaged than they already are. we do not want to see that wind

up and iran, basically i want to turn to the human shield because people don't understand. they look at the tv and they see these innocent civilians and we all -- it breaks our heart to see human beings you know, in such a circumstance. but if you could explain perhaps to me and the committee and those behind you, what hamas does to endanger innocent civilians by using them and our hostages as human shields. for instance, there is a hospital that has gotten a lot of attention lately, however, as i understand it, hamas has a terrorist infrastructure located in the hospital itself. and in the tunnels, putting innocent civilians in jeopardy and at risk and the hostages as well. would you comment on that?

>> the rules of international humanitarian law are clear. they apply to the israel defense forces and they also apply to hamas .1 cannot deliberately target civilians or civilian objects .1 cannot use civilians as human shields. attacks cannot be indiscriminate. one cannot , torture or mutilate .1 cannot take hostages and attacks cannot cause excessive loss of civilian life or damage to civilian objects in connection to their military advantage. there is documented evidence, there are plenty of images out there. some of it, hamas has put out itself. and to praise its use of weapons and rockets including and hospitals, mosques, and schools. >> my last question for both of you quickly, would you say that according to

>> absolutely. >> would you say that hamas is guilty of war crimes and genocide? >> yes. >> yes. >> we caution those participating to not shout out. we appreciate peaceful protest, but we want to keep it peaceful. >> thank you, mr. chair. i want to thank you for that last part. we need to be clear in regards to who hamas is.

>> call it what it is. call it by its name. it's genocide, it's ethnic cleansing! your slaughtering gazans. >> it will not be tolerated, including verbal outbursts. we appreciate your right to protest under the constitution. we would ask that you do that peacefully and in a style that is not disrupt the proceedings. thank you. mr. meeks? >> thank you again, mr. chairman. we know what is going on and it was hamas who violated a cease- fire. it was hamas that committed these heinous acts. and it is hamas, who have stated , that these deaths are good

for them because they will never stop until they destroy israel. i think that is important for the record. to be clear. i think it's also important for the record to be clear, because the language, and i would ask secretary leif, in regards to the administration, talking about a humanitarian pause, which is for the palestinian people, as opposed to a cease- fire, which benefits hamas. i think most people want to make sure that the innocent palestinians are given a safe space in moving forward. and that is why the administration has called for a humanitarian pause. but a cease-fire would only give hamas, as they have stated,

the opportunity to rearm himself and do what they did on october 7th again. because they said that they will do it again and again. is that accurate? >> ranking member, that is accurate. if you would permit, i will elaborate a bit. when the secretary came out on his visit to the region last week and met with israeli leaders, at the presidents request he put on the table as a timeliness for humanitarian pauses. i will stress, pauses. they are embedded in humanitarian efforts and they can be. it allows civilians to move out of harms way. they will allow us to open up the aperture even wider to get a really robust flow of humanitarian assistance into gaza. and then for it to be delivered to those in need. this would also likely support the efforts that we are

undergoing to get the release of hostages and get them to safety. a cease-fire on the other hand, at this moment, would leave hamas still in a position with 200 plus hostages. a very large military infrastructure, and the capacity to continue attacks. either way, a senior hamas leader last week made it very clear publicly that they would look to commit the october 7th style massacre again, and again, and again. >> thank you for that. let me move to a different place. i believe also there needs to be a plan in place to ensure once israel's military operation against hamas has concluded that there will be an entity in place, credible to the gazans, who can administer gaza and provide basic security. i know that secretary blinken has indicated that he thought the palestinian authority might

be the appropriate entity. so i wanted to ask you that question. what is your view on the palestinian authority as a control of gaza in the future x as well as that, i have talked to a number of others in the region. what can our arab states do to assist in stabilizing and administrating a gaza in the immediate period following the removal of hamas from power? >> ranking member, the palestinian authority, as we all know, is the only palestinian government that has come out of the oslo accords. whatever is shortcoming is, is the government for the palestinians in the west bank. palestinian voices and aspirations need to be at the centerpiece of post governance security in gaza. we are looking at all these questions right now. we would like to begin those discussions

sooner rather than later. i would say our arab partners, on the one hand, as we heard from the last weekend, are very focused on the here and now. they are very focused on the issues of the humanitarian crisis and they are focused on obtaining a cease-fire. we are doing both things. we are focused on the here and now, but we are also looking over the hill, past conflict, at what needs to come. i am quite confident we will find support in our common efforts. i want to stress that we do think the p.a. is the appropriate place to look for governance eventually. >> my time has expired. >> the chair recognizes mr. smith. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. you had indicated or talk about false narratives. i think that's a very important subject to speak about. nowhere is that more in evidence than the united nations.

both in geneva as well as new york. i had a hearing earlier today called united nations bigotry against israel. it points to palestinian youth. we put a focus on how young persons are being trained up to hate israel and us. we have provided about $1 billion toward the entire operation. i'm very, very concerned, as are the members of my committee , when we met earlier today. the false narratives though. one particular one, one of many, the high commissioner for human rights for palestinian territories said that israel has no right to defend itself. she makes a bogus legal argument . they can't defend themselves. that kind of narrative, and there are many others like it,

your thoughts on that? secondly, is gaza the harbinger of what a two state solution would look like? i was in the white house with bill clinton, they famously had both leaders of the plo as well as israel. we are all hopeful that oslo would lead to a positive, peaceful outcome. and yet we see a defective to stay in gaza. what are they doing? i have read the hamas charter of 1988 many times. it calls for the killing of every jewish person and the end of israel, eviscerating the entire nation. your thoughts on that? while the two state solution -- something that is profoundly discredited in modern times, especially by gaza. >> congressman, thank you for ashton. if we go back in time to the

events in gaza, 2006 and 2007, hamas essentially undertook a violent coup and has been run by brutal fiat ever since. those 2 million palestinians really had no vote in the matter, especially since 2006. that would hardly qualify as a state by anyone's reckoning. i think the palestinian legitimate aspirations -- or something that have been recognized now for decades by successive administrations. we all feel, having consulted with partners the last several weeks, there's a greater urgency than ever to take a negotiation forward towards palestinian statehood, negotiated between the parties along the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed swaps. but something that will give the palestinian people the self-

governance that they deserve with a state of peace and mutual recognition. >> with respect to the two state solution, the position of the department of defense is to support our colleagues at the department of stay. there's a difference between hamas and the designated foreign terrorist organization and the palestinian people who absolutely deserve a state of their own, which would enable israelis to live in a secure state, as well as for palestinians. it is an area that we are constantly engaged in with our colleagues in the israeli ministry of defense. >> the state for quite a long time.

there are many others like her >> certainly respectable from the u.s. perspective, if i could go back to -- congressman, this has been a years long effort and it's something that we continue to apply ourselves to to bring to attention to clear out anti- semitic or any other incitement language in education materials. i also underline that right now, especially at this moment crisis, it is the backbone of the strong u.n. coordinated humanitarian response to the crisis in gaza. and any post-conflict setting, it will serve that. >> the textbooks and all the rest is done by the p.a. it's not done by the u.n. or

us. we are the major contributor. >> the chair recognizes mr. sherman. >> the gentleman from new jersey is correct as to the special repertoire. we have sent a letter, and perhaps we should send another one, urging for dismissal. from the river to the sea. people should know what that means. it means kill or expel every jewish person between the mediterranean and jordan. the second holocaust. we had a cease-fire on october 6th. the forces exploded out and killed 1400 people, to 240 hostages. the fighters could have stayed in israel and fought. instead they quickly retreated behind their human shields. now we hear those calling for a cease-fire.

hamas has declared they want a cease-fire. it is declared what they would do with a cease-fire. they would regroup. and these are the words of just a few days ago of a senior member of them. and then they would do another october 7th. and another after that. two, three, four times until israel is destroyed. those who delight in the 1400 is really&, the butchered babies , join that call for a regroup cease-fire and a chance to do october 7th two, three, four times. in any war a country has to way how to achieve its military directives, achieving -- and minimizing civilian casualties on the other side. israel has gone beyond the united states and any other country in every way.

to sacrifice its own soldiers, to sacrifice or delay its military objectives in order to avoid civilian casualties. when did we ever worn civilians or anyone else and give up a possible surprise? when did we provide food shipments to germany, japan, or north vietnam? in fact, it was a british and american blockade of austria and hungary that led to their defeat. the food blockade. when did we ever provide fuel shipments to japan, germany, or north vietnam? in fact, we bombed and destroyed every fuel facility we could. yet israel warns. israel facilitates food. israel

is allowing fuel and despite the fact hamas stockpiles it. i have the obscure honor of being the only cpa on this committee so i focused on casualty statistics. even if you accept hamas casualty cystic six -- statistics as being honest, if a fighter, 17, gets blown up by his own rocket, the account that as a child casualty. for which israel should be held responsible. if a rocket falls, as one third of them do, to gaza and explodes, as it did at that famous hospital, they tried to hold israel responsible. and if israel kills a hamas commander, that death is included along the& that we are now told are the civilian casualties.

we hear calls for a cease-fire. is there any proof that if a cease-fire were declared today that all of the hostages would be released tomorrow or immediately? >> no, congressman. there is not. there is no guarantee. >> is really officials are doing a lot to minimize civilian casualties. they have provided the warnings. we have seen several humanitarian pauses. basically a permanent pause around the rafah gate. can you describe how the idf has reduced civilian casualties? or perhaps the deputy assistant secretary. >> let me start by adding even more details to your outline of what israel does to prioritize protection of civilians. they have dropped 1.5 million leaflets in gaza asking civilians to evacuate. they have sent hundreds of thousands of text messages and made phone calls to cell phones . >> did we ever provide leaflets?

to my knowledge, no. go ahead. >> we know that is real, in our conversations with the israel defense forces, they had made very clear that they assess collateral damage estimates before they take strikes. they have legal reviews through their chain of command. when there are incidents of civilian harm they investigate them after. >> thank you. >> i now recognize ms. wagner. >> i think the chairman and our witnesses for their service. the united states, israel, and our many partners in the middle east share a common enemy. iran. iran and the terrorist puppets that do its bidding. we cannot waiver in our support for israel and our opposition to iran, hamas, and other terrorist proxies. it is the only path to peace in the middle east.

does iran have the military capacity and intent to escalate this war, including by supporting hezbollah in opening additional fronts? and how is the was communicating that escalation would be unacceptably costly for iran and its terrorist proxies? >> thank you, congresswoman. yes, i would say iran certainly has the capabilities in the sense of the architecture or proxies that use described from hamas, has block, to the myriad of iraqi initiatives. it certainly has the capacity to escalate. we have been in a very steady, relentless state of messaging use of our force posture adjustments, messaging directly

, and through other parties on a constant relentless basis. while there has been escalated to actions on the northern border of israel we have seen success so far in keeping that escalation account. >> last week a wall street journal indicated that russia's paramilitary arm plans to provide an air defense system to hezbollah. specifically the russia as a 22. with concerns that hezbollah may open up a northern front against israel, knowing the capacity that they have, the number of rockets that they have, what are the ramifications to israel's security? if russia

increases the transfer of weapons systems to hezbollah, and what is the likelihood that russia will provide weapons systems to hezbollah and other proxies of iran, like hamas? >> thank you for the question. i think russia and who would like nothing more than for the united states to be bombed down in the middle east with a view that would shift our strategic focus from also ensuring that russian aggression cannot be victorious in ukraine in that were against civilians and civilian infrastructure. secondly, we have been warning for some time now about the implications for regional security and stability of deepening russian and iranian cooperation across the board. that would certainly include whatever russia might be contemplating providing to hezbollah. >> discussing russia's potential movement of an air defense system to hezbollah, equal to the essay 22, i consider that a

huge escalation. perhaps we will have more information on it. >> it would be a huge escalation. it would be hugely jeopardizing to israel's security. especially when we have worked so hard to prevent the opening of a second front and would be more than happy to provide you additional information. >> i'm really concerned that iran and iranian proxies are using the israel hamas war to undermine the abraham accords. how is the state department communicating to the region that peace with israel serves the interest of arab states? they could face serious threats from iran and terrorist proxies. how is this message being received in the region? thank you. >> those countries that have established relations with israel have an ongoing commitment to those relationships. obviously they are strained at this point. the channels of communication are strained.

these partners are very focused and enraged by the mounting toll of casualties among civilians. palestinian civilians in gaza. that said, i have heard nothing that would sway me from the belief that there is a day on the other side of this conflict where people will work to repair those relations because there is a common good to that. >> i hope that we are pushing back against the misinformation and propaganda that's being disseminated by iran and its proxies, especially in these abraham accords countries. i would encourage that. my time is expired, mr. chairman. i will yield back. >> the chair recognizes mr. key. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to follow up on the fact that, in the preceding days before october 7th, the talks that were extended for the u.s. involvement. israel and saudi arabia. for

normalization with israel. how would you categorize the status of those negotiations at that juncture? how would you categorize them after this? and how would you categorize them in the future? i think it's important for the united states to be clear with our resolve to continue these talks. and i think it would be in everyone's interest, for saudi arabia and the other countries, to do the same. any thought was benefited from this heinous attack can be dispelled immediately. >> thank you, congressman. i was very much involved in those discussions in the months leading up to october 7th. obviously they are on pause at this point, given the crisis in the region. i think it's fair to say that the saudi leadership saw

benefit in pursuing this. they asked the u.s. to be the midwife to this set of agreements. we were deep into discussions on a number of fronts. ironically, we were just on the cusp of begetting the discussions about what we call the palestinian component that agreement. and it was something that i would expect to be able to resume on the other side of this crisis. because there is a larger good here for all of the parties. i will say, very candidly, this conflict, this crisis has rolled up a huge amount of public anger towards israel, towards us. this is something we will have to work through. we are all, i would say, collectively anxious to see this conflict and sooner rather than later. and certainly the human suffering and human toll that it has taken.

there is a set of principles that underlie our engagements. one of them, the engagements now and post conflict, that is very squarely focused on palestinian statehood. and alongside that, a wider regional effort to add to normalization. >> in your opening statement you made reference to the fact that one of your primary objectives is to protect u.s. troops in the region. i think the united states has shown enormous restraint, given the attacks that have been public on u.s. servicemen in that region. men and women that are risking their lives. as well as the people serving in our embassies in those areas. could you give us the status of what the current threat is to our embassies, what it is to our service people, service members on the ground, as well as what steps we have taken to upgrade our security of both our military and civilian people on the ground in this

region. >> congressman, we will split the question if you will allow us. in terms of diplomatic missions, since the beginning hours of this crisis we have anticipated that there could be certainly an escalation of terrorist attacks from known groups as well as lone wolf attacks. so we have been in a steady state with all of our mission leadership of calibrating, looking every day at the security situation and calibrating decisions about whether to, for instance, send nonessential personnel or allow family members to depart in some cases. we have done the necessary, where we thought it was useful for embassy staffing. for instance, in iraq and our mission, the consul is still open. the embassy in baghdad is still open. but we have released nonessential personnel given the volatility of the situation and the possibilities of conflict.

>> thank you, congressman. the time is short. i will be very succinct. there have been over 41 attacks on u.s. forces in iraq and syria. u.s. forces in iraq and syria are there only for the defeat isis mission in support of local partners. for no other purpose. since october 17th we have flown additional air set -- air assets in because of the severity of attacks by iran and iran backed groups against our forces. we have also demonstrated, as president biden has said, he has no higher priority than the protection of u.s. forces. we are prepared to use military force. >> if i could, about five seconds left. i just want to emphasize the fact that 13 days ago, as we say here, hamas was in moscow in talks that i think we will deal with an classified session.

as our embassies are threatened it's important we remember iran and russia. and their role in this as well. i yelled back. >> do either of you monitor the gaza health ministry? >> i do not. >> know? what the lady that got pulled out was parroting, when she said 10,000 civilians were killed, it's not just what they were parroting back there, it's literally what -- parents. and then that is what al jazeera and new york times, bbc, it's what everybody else starts parroting. i will read to you directly from the what they want everybody to parrot. 9770 people have been killed, this is in gaza. 70% were women, children, older persons. 24,158 people injured.

2260 reported missing. 521 families. 109 citizens. they get very specific with information. you notice anything glaringly missing from what i just mentioned to you from the gaza health ministry report? is there anything that strikes you as glaringly missing? >> i'm sorry, i don't know what you're referring to. >> combat. they did mention the work, combatants. >> because they mingle them. >> that's exactly the point. they expect the world to believe that all of these people , these groups that they are dividing up to families, older persons, and children, which they consider anybody under 18. and women. none of them are combatants. that's what they want the world to believe and that's what the united nations goes out there

and parents. and that's what the media goes out there and parents. i want to get to a few of those points. because it leads to a circle is going on. and the circle is this. this should be provocative. hamas lies. hamas and palestinians lie. is their government. i have had a number of colleagues that agree with me on twitter that it is their government. they have tried to censor me on this. they lie. but then they pretend everybody is a victim. and after they say everyone is a victim there are anti-semitic riots and terrorism. and then after that happened there are people, members and others, the call for cease- fires and other countries so i want to ask a few questions on that. are all combatants men in this war? do you think they are all men? you are in dod. he monitored iraq and afghanistan.

>> generally speaking, all combatants are not men. >> are they all over the age of 18? >> broadly speaking, there are plenty of designated foreign terrorist organizations who use children in combat. >> are they all young adult or are some of the older adults? >> congressman, i'm not a lawyer. >> in gaza are all combatants hamas? >> no. >> are the only individuals that wear black hoods and green headbands? >> just like a terrorist organization, other organizations like palestinian islamic jihad don't only parade in the streets in identifiable uniforms. >> and it's not just hamas, like you mentioned. when i brought this up, which is very important to bring up,

to identify who is innocent, which i absolutely agree there are innocent people. the has been stripped from me by comments of my colleagues. when i brought that up my colleague appear, who is missing right now, probably conveniently, asked me if i was a member of the . in one of my fellow colleagues asked me to distinguish between innocent and nonsettling. this is the big problem about that lie. that lie is actually worse than the hospital bombing lie that was told in the new york times and the associated press. because that is a much more persistent lie, that hamas is begging, palestinians are begging members of congress to make. they are counting on the fact that people here will try to distinguish that it's not just hamas terrorists. it's also palestinians. it's also women. it's also under 18. it's also older people.

and when they do that they get that circle of lies where they think everybody thinks that they are a victim. the get the anti-semitic riots and terrorism. the of the people calling for cease-fires and for making them a second state. that is why that lie, and these people unwilling to question and yelling at me about questioning that come are creating a much more persistent problem than even what was put out there. and i yelled back. >> the gentleman's time has expired. wheeled back. the chair recognizes mr. baron. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, ranking member. the events of october 7th are tragic. having spent some time in israel , knowing some that were attacked, many individuals that i met, many of the young people

were the most pro-of finding a two state solution. it's tragic, october 7th, that may be an impossible dream for the foreseeable future. we stand with israel and the right to defend themselves. we stand that israel is the jewish homeland. reading an article in the new york times this morning, they were quoting the leadership of hamas. their intent and fear was that the houston cause was slipping away. it wasn't central. they were watching our facilitated negotiations with saudi arabia and israel. they were watching the abraham words. there's not a tactical, strategic benefit to be having a baby or killing a child in front of their parents. or killing parents in front of a child. quoting hamas leadership, they

want this reaction. they want and anticipate that the israeli government would have to respond to this attack. and hamas, for my calculation, understood that there was a major civilian toll. they wanted to use the loss of innocent palestinian civilian lives to bring the arab world back into focus on the palestinian cause. they will continue to do this because it is their strategy to continue to provoke and try to foment unrest in the streets. i do worry that prime minister netanyahu's response is exactly what hamas wants them to do, which is now also isolating israel in the world and

creating anti-semitic attacks on college campuses around the world. again, this is not talking about a cease-fire. this is a war between israel and hamas. support israel's right and we will work with them to decapitate the ability of hamas to perpetrate an attack like this ever again. there are other legitimate ways to prosecute this war against hamas and perhaps minimize innocent palestinian casualties. i would imagine that we are in conversation with the idf and israeli government to think about what those are, special operators, et cetera, while protecting the israeli homeland. >> absolutely.

israel is a democracy with whom we share values. they have an obligation, both to take action and to defend the people. and ensure that hamas can never again perpetrate a terrorist act like they did on october 7th. they also have an obligation to distance between terrorists and militants. and civilians who have access to humanitarian aid, consistent with international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict. the israelis are absolutely aware and cognizant of it. we have conversations with them every day. >> sources have suggested another strategy. a strategy that says israel is going to occupy gaza. i think our own secretary of state has said and occupation of gaza is not possible. and that would be a bad strategy. >> congressman, i would like to quote a few things that the secretary said today at the --

tickets to a number of points you made. he said, the only way to ensure that this crisis never happens again this to begin setting the conditions for durable peace and security, and to frame our diplomatic efforts now with that in mind. the united states believes key elements should include, no forcible displacement of palestinians from gaza. not now, not after the war. no use of gaza as a form for terrorists and or other violent attacks. no reoccupation from gaza after the conflict and's. no attempt to block it or the siege gaza. no reduction in the territory of gaza. i would add to that a few affirmative principles that i know the secretary feels very strongly about. they will certainly inform the approach after. as i said earlier, palestinian people have to be at the center of post-conflict governance. the west bank and gaza must ultimately be treated as a

common -- if you will. we have to look to rebuild a road that has long been missing toward negotiations for the palestinians what we have seen, and you touched on in your opening remarks, is a real weaponization of an unresolved issue. an unresolved, legitimate aspiration for statehood has been weapon a my hamas. hamas has a dark and nihilistic, savage kind of vision for the cause. and it is not one that frankly most palestinians align with. hamas and other members of iran's acts of resistance are very much desiring to weaponization. so we must take it away from them frankly. >> the chair recognizes mr. wilson. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

your service of state and defense has never been more important. it's really bipartisan. we want you to be successful. we want the president to be successful. it's critical for american families that you be successful. i'm very grateful with the leadership, the ranking member. it is bipartisan that we want you to succeed. but it is so critical. i believe the washington post was correct last week when they cited that american families are at greater risk today of another 9/11 mass murder than ever. so we've got to get together and get these issues addressed. to me it is sadly clear that we are in a war we did not choose. dictators with rule of gun invading democracies with rule of law. it's an axis of evil. it began with the war criminal, potent, when he conducted mass murder on february 24th, 2022.

invading ukraine. and then, on october 7, we know the massacre by the iranian puppets that came into massacre the people of israel, just so clear, so sad. and we also know the chinese communist party has indicated that taiwan, 24 million people, do not exist. we've got to be clear and working together. i am just so concerned that all of this leads to death to israel, death to america, being american families. indeed, madam secretary, when you mentioned hamas and their perverted view of the world, indeed american families, and also civilize civilization should know that the hamas covenant of august 18th, 1988, in the midst of provisions, is article seven. quote, the day of judgment will

not come about until muslims kill jews. then the jews will hide behind the rocks and trees. and the rocks and trees will cry out, muslim, there is a jew hiding behind me. come and kill him. end of quote. it should not be ignored. there were people carrying signs here in washington on saturday and sunday about trees and rocks. this is what it is. the killing of jews. i appreciate what the congressman said. that is, we have had u.s. forces come under fire in iraq and syria more than 40 times from the iranian puppet forces. dozens of americans have been reportedly injured in these attacks. sadly, to me, it has been concealed from the american people how serious this is. the u.s. has responded militarily just one time. attacking an empty warehouse. with the technology we have today we should be able to

identify the location of the launching sites. and they should be responded to immediately and not discussed or whatever. we have the technology. why are we not acting to protect the american people? >> thank you, congressman, for your question. president biden has been clear that he has directed self- defense strikes and protection of our forces and will do so again. there is no higher priority. it is quite clear that iran and its proxy groups are estimating against u.s. forces in iraq and syria. we have a range of options at our disposal to defend ourselves. >> indeed, i have a staff person in the region. i'm so -- concerned. the four sons have served in iraq and afghanistan. it's good that we are providing air defense capability. we should be going after the

launch sites. they can be identified. just with the technology that we have today. to me it is inexcusable. why are we not identifying and going after the launch sites? >> congressman, i can speak to every specific operational decision. i would be happy to review more in a closed session. i will also say that iran and its proxy groups disguised many of its warehouses, depots, and launch sites in areas that have civilians around and so the u.s. military takes precautions and assesses how we will respond based on proportionality, necessity, and distinction. >> the american media covers the israeli response. not the attack. let's get ready for that. we are going to be accused of being the perpetrators when in fact there should be self- defense.

i yelled back. >> the chairman yields to recognize mr. castro. >> thank you, chairman. i think almost all of us were shocked and enraged by the attack on october 7th. i certainly express that. i have been concerned, since then, about how the netanyahu administration is carried out its response. i don't have faith or confidence that prime minister netanyahu can protect israelis and will follow the humanitarian rules of war or prevent a larger regional conflict that would rope in the united states. do you know how many missiles have hit gaza now? an area that is 141 square miles. i have asked by the witness. played assessment that i saw

was about 20,000. there have only been about five hostages that have been released. it seems to be that prime minister netanyahu is prioritizing collective punishment over the release of hostages. i'm very concerned about that. please. >> thank you for that question. >> their operations in gaza are meant to dismantle the military infrastructure of hamas that made it possible to perpetrate an attack like the world saw on october 7th. >> i want to be clear, they should be allowed to protect themselves against a serious attack. we have long supported them in their ability to do that. they also struck an amulet. they struck refugee shelters.

how do you explain that? as we try to assess the situation, just as the world is aghast at the barbarity of what happened on october 7th, the world also looks at that and asks the question, why an ambulance? why thirtysomething members of the press have been killed. why 4000 or 5000 children have artie been killed? >> they are extremely serious questions. we should hold israel and the israel defense forces to the same standards that the u.s. holds any ally or partner. and that is adherence to the law of armed conflict and necessity, distinction, and proportionality in its execution and implementation of its military operations with respect to the ambulance convoy. this is a good example of the missing duration and disinformation environment.

they announced that they saw hamas terrorists using the ambulance to conceal militants and weapons. it is also incumbent on the israel defense forces and government to make that information known so the world can understand how hamas disguise themselves and its tactics in civilian structures. >> i had read a very disturbing report a few days ago that has been fairly consistent that there has continued to be a lack of substantial or necessary food and water that has reached gaza. the water system, for example, is out. can you please tell us what the latest humanitarian situation is there? >> yes. congressman, the water system has been a focus of our efforts. the water was initially shut off. we got these israelis to turn it back on. several major pipes have sustained damage at different times. the israelis have worked to

repair the damage where they could. the operating environment for getting humanitarian assistance in is unbelievably complex. as i said, it is a combination of egyptians having very legitimate concerns about an influx of fighters disguised. >> i'm running out of time. i would ask one more question for the record. i would ask that the state department, the biden administration, do everything it can to make sure that humanitarian assistance, regardless of who is holding it up, makes its way to the people. my final question, i will try to read it in time. the israeli prime minister says he intends for israel to have overall security responsibility over gaza for an indefinite period. israel's heritage minister, who proposed using nuclear weapons on gaza, and was not forced to

resign for that statement because benjamin netanyahu's coalition has proposed to establishing settlements in gaza. this week john kirby said that the president does not believe that a reoccupation by is really forces is the right thing to do. for the record, what alternatives have you raised with the netanyahu it ministration? and does the biden administration opposed settlements to national law in gaza? >> we actually opposing and we oppose the reoccupation of gaza by israel. or any other country. >> thank you. i yelled back. >> the gentleman yields. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here. i'm greatly concerned about the safety of israel and for the safety of jewish american. the response around the country after the october 7th attacks,

especially some of our colleges and universities, to me it is a problem. especially our public institutions. i am a great supporter of exercising the first amendment. i believe it's critical for the american way of life. the people must be allowed to speak freely and assemble peacefully. when that speech is in favor of terrorists we must look at the underlying issues. i did stints rally and support for hamas, a group that officially attacked innocent people, beheaded and burned children, and sexually assaulted young girls? our younger generations are not taught everything that the greatest generation learned through war. evil is evil and it must be stopped. the fact that these rallies for hamas was allowed is beyond troubling. this is progressivism at its worst. students and others rallied in support of actions on october 7th and have proven their lack of historical knowledge. 80 years ago this country went to war with axis powers that sought to destroy any way of life that they felt wasn't fair to their own.

my family knows those people well. i lost an uncle to the and he went on to fight in the pacific. this is the type of enemy we promise the world we would never allow again. i support the efforts of israel to rid the world of a group that is -bent on murdering jews. we must support israel in this fight and educate our young people that evil is evil and must be dealt with. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back the remainder of my time. >> the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes ms. tice. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you to our witnesses. as you have heard all of us say, on october 7th we all watched in horror as hamas terrorists murdered, tortured, sexually assaulted, and kidnapped israelis. 32 americans were also killed in that attack. our closest ally in the region

deserves -- from everyone in this body. the u.s., the u.n., and much of the international community have designated hamas as a foreign terrorist organization. their stated goal is the destruction and decimation of all israeli people. their actions have also demonstrated their indifference toward the safety of palestinian people. there is absolutely no room for sympathy or equivocation when it comes to hamas. and about that we should be absolutely clear. i join my colleagues and applaud president biden in his stalwart support of israel during this time. i commend secretary blinken for his master class and diplomacy to shore up the u.s. bilateral relationships with our regional partners. and to lay the groundwork for intense diplomatic efforts to achieve sustainable peace. words do matter. what we talk about in this committee and in congress also matters.

that's why urging adherents to national law and the laws of war while ramping up humanitarian aid is important. this is not anti-israeli. prime minister netanyahu himself has agreed to this in principle. i echo president biden's calls for temporary localized pauses to allow for surges of humanitarian aid. but i remain opposed to a long- term durable cease-fire until all hostages are returned and certain commitments are made by hamas. a premature cease-fire would give hamas a reprieve and allow them to regroup, reorganize, and rearm. i also urge at the same time the idf to reconsider its tactics to ensure its counterterrorism campaign is proportionate. again, these remarks should not be misconstrued as delegitimizing israel's campaign to root out hamas. we cannot accept the false

choice that republicans have been pushing on us when they say, you either support israel in its war effort or you support hamas. bolstering israel's defense and urging the protection of innocent palestinians are not mutually exclusive ideas. we can and we must do both. i would like to ask my question , more specifically, about turkey. turkey consistently tops the list of u.s. arms importers and recipients of the u.s. military aid. i believe turkey's relationship with hamas alone is enough to seize all arms exports as -- expresses his sympathy for hamas. not to mention that turkey has routinely acted as a spoiler within the nato alliance. the arms export control act requires u.s. government to

conduct in use monitoring of where these military exports go. i wonder if there have been any indication as to turkey's relationship with hamas has resulted in the transfer of weapons of u.s. origin thomas by turkey. and how is the u.s. government able to ascertain and do with that? >> thank you for your question, congresswoman. as part of any foreign military sale to any partner or ally, there is robust and -- monitoring for how the weapons are used. we have no indication that anything provided to turkey has fallen into the hands of hamas. >> will that is reassuring. i would just ask you too how your balancing the relationship with cutter and turkey for hopefully getting out some of the hostages, and having hamas leadership within their boundaries visiting.

>> congresswoman, what i would say is the following. they have been profoundly involved in the relentless quest to secure the release of hostages. foreign hostages, is really hostages, the whole lot. they have also been engaged in a very intensive effort to help in efforts to get humanitarian assistance in and for nationals out. something that has been repeated repeatedly by hamas. of course the military leadership is well protected underground, far from the conflict above. the political leadership is the external piece through which they are working. >> time is expired. the chair recognizes mr. barr. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

in response to my colleague on the other side of the aisle, who is expressing this idea of proportionality with respect to gaza. i think it's important that, in this moment, in the face of this barbarism from hamas terrorists, that we are careful not to use nuance too much. what we need right now is more clarity. nuance is not really apropos at the moment. as you said in response to my colleague, there is a lot of misinformation. why in england? because it was full of hamas terrorist weapons. that's why. moral clarity requires that we callout terrorism for what it is. and when there are calls for a cease-fire that would only enable hamas to reconstitute another attack, that is not appropriate either. i do want to address secretary blinken's call for israel to

provide a humanitarian pause. we also support humanitarian assistance for the innocent. but those in gaza do not care about humanitarian needs, as you know and have testified. did hamas prevent innocent palestinians from fleeing gaza city to safer locations further south in gaza? does it make it harder for people to access aid? >> absolutely. >> is hamas actively hoarding resources to pursue its islamic jihadist war against israel instead of providing water, fuel, and food to those affected? >> yes they are. >> do you feel they would use any pause and israel's effort to root out terrorist cells and cover the urban terrorist network to resupply its war fighters? >> they would certainly attempt to. but that is something that i know that the israeli government is actively considering. >> i would hope that they consider that when calling for a humanitarian pause.

did president biden condition any support for israel or the idf on engaging a pause? >> he did not pick >> that is good to hear. let me follow up on a line of questioning regarding our partner. of course qatar has been very helpful. we appreciate that. hostages, how helpful have they been? are they using their considerable leverage to seek the release of all hostages immediately? >> they absolutely are. they worked relentlessly. the problem is, who they are talking to at the other end of the phone line. it is a real question as to whether it is serious in any degree about releasing those hostages. >> it is good to hear. i think the qataris are important partners for us. we want to make sure that we

emphasize to them how helpful they could be in this moment. they want to be the switzerland of the middle east. they can be very helpful in this moment. i appreciate you taking advantage of that relationship. how are we ensuring that any u.s. support operating in gaza is not violating the? are we seeing any support for the families of hamas terrorists killed in the invasion of israeli and engaging for participation? >> we are not seeing any of that. we have asked the question and received. >> providing assistance to pro- palestinian as a way of bypassing or? >> we do not bypass the letter or the spirit of the act. >> i think there ought to be some analysis of aid that may

not go to the palestinian authority but ngos that could serve as a proxy. i want rigorous oversight for the state department so that the spirit and comply with. >> i can assure you of that, congressman. >> this issue of the financial services committee, we have a very important testimony about the $16 billion that was unfrozen, both in terms of the south korea deal with the hostage deal in also, the $10 million in iraq to pay off baghdad's debt. that is a lot of money that is been effectively sanctioned delivered to iran. is the biden administration reconsidering chasing sanctions release with iran in light of the events of october 7th? >> i'm sorry. i did not understand the

verbiage. >> chasing sanctions release. have they reconsidered that policy given october 7th and the events that have occurred? >> the money you referred to from south korea that had been moved to different accounts and will be put through a rigorous metered office not only spent on humanitarian food. that was an arrangement set up by the administration and we are rigorously applying the same restrictions to it. the money is not moved. the money that you referred to -- >> i'm sorry. in fairness to the witnesses. >> times expired. the chair recognizes.

>> for both witnesses, are there any other updates that either of you can provide in this unclassified setting regarding the status of the hostages? >> i could not. i would be happy to talk to you in a different setting. >> thank you. >> same for you? okay. let me ask you this. is the administration in continuous contact with the israeli government about hostages and can we be assured that the administration will provide whatever assistance may be helpful in that effort? >> i can assure you, we are providing all support. >> moving on. ever since these horrible tax which do not to be further described since we don't know exactly what we are talking about. i personally have felt devastated. so many americans have, as well as people around the world, have felt as an american and a member of congress but also of

the jewish american. that heartbreak has been amplified by horrific cases of both palestinians and jewish americans being targeted in the united states. including the unthinkable murder of the six-year-old palestinian american boy in chicago as well as the death of a 69-year-old jewish man paul kessler after he was injured during an altercation at a rally or competing rallies while he was peacefully leaving an israeli flag. that is of deep concern to all of us for the safety of americans. generally, for the safety of people with allison ian or any kind of arabic background as well as people who are . my concern is that in this climate rhetoric that equates every day

palestinians, civilians to hamas . including at times, in this body, congress, it is not just morally unacceptable but it is also actively endangering the lives of our fellow americans and i will say that as a representative of a district that includes a vibrant jewish community as well as a vibrant palestinian american community and other arab-american communities, these are really personal to me and many of my constituents. first, let me ask whether both of you agree with the premise that hamas is a terrorist organization. >> absolutely. >> yes. >> thank you. >> would you agree that the rhetoric equates. palestinian civilians,

palestinian americans with hamas is rhetoric that strengthens hamas and underlines israel's security by feeding into their propaganda that hamas is a legitimate representative of the palestinian people? >> we absolutely make a distinction. hamas is a terrorist organization. perpetrated a brutal set of attacks. the palestinian people do not deserve to be left in in such a way so we absolutely distinguish in our discussion of that topic. >> did you want to add anything to that? >> i completely agree with. the palestinians in gaza deserve much better than hamas and it is critical from a department of defense perspective that military operations distinguish between targeting hamas and protecting innocent palestinian civilians. >> i want to turn something else just because of the shortage of time.

i am very, very concerned about the humanitarian assistance. we know that the only place where this is available is through the rough a crossing which seems to have alternating access and the availability of passing through. according to an article that i just soldering the steering, the crossing has been shut down due to some sort of security incident. can you speak of our ongoing efforts to increase the amount of aid and how to get it to this innocent civilians? >> backstop by here in washington. is working relentlessly. the operating environment is so phenomenally complex and the security conditions on the other side are parlous. it has been an exhausting effort to keep that "that is

what we are focused on and determined to increase the number of trucks over this next. . it is now about anywhere from 70-100. we want to get it up to 300-400- 500. >> time is expired. we will recognize jackson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> my first question is for you. professor, recently talked about the hamas strategy that returned to as work what others have labeled the dead baby strategy. the basic concept is that in a minute knows will draw a response in a strategy that that can only be described by. retreats into its strong-willed as we have been discussing and uses palestinian civilians as human shields. not that hamas is any regard for the law of war or any other rules for that matter, but engaging in an discussing acts such as a complete violation of

the long conflict. israel does its best to avoid civilian has hokies. in this conflict, gave time to support from northern gaza and act which hamas attended a block. i heard today that there was millions of flyers that were dropped all over northern gaza. they made thousands and thousands of phone calls to evacuate people before anything happened. i think they are doing their best to avoid this. eventually, there are casualties with this set up. hamas then blames israel as the guilty party. the success of this strategy depends on the mainstream media and unfortunately, perhaps members of congress as we have recently heard, which anyone who knew of the story certainly knew that it was filled with because every story i saw on every channel, they were grouped together. anyways, it relies on them

buying into this narrative and allowing to be used as a tool of hamas. i was just wondering, what efforts, if any, to ensure that hamas and their strategy is ineffective. specifically, what is the administration and to show american people that israel has an inherited right to self advance. is on solid, legal footing and that hamas is the one violating the law. what are we doing to stop the spread of this misinformation? >> thank you, congressman. the point of hamas's operation is full stop. they are masters of propaganda as you know. the good news is that most governments around the region will recognize what kind of entity that we are dealing with. the publics are inflamed. there is no question. the public's are inflamed by images of mounting casualties. that is an issue across the

region. we are in a constant temple of direct engagement discretions. public affairs efforts to really set the record straight. it is quite a challenging environment for just the reasons you cite. >> doing the best you can, i think it's going to be more important as time goes on. as this goes on, that narrative is going to grow and grow. >> my next question is for you. the biden administration recently presented testimony before this community exquisitely asking. . since you noted in your opening statement have lost at least 41 attacks on u.s. service members while hamas in his black continue to attack our friend and ally on a daily basis. given the increased threat, has

this administration's position on whether to include, i ran back to group in changed. >> thank you for your question, congressman. the position of this administration has not changed. our self-defense strikes against iran back to militia groups. have the underpinning of the president article to authority under the constitution. >> okay. i guess that is a question for a later day. i think if we are going to include other groups, maybe this would be one of the ones that we want to include as well. despite what you have stated their since they seem to be one of our biggest threats right now. given, my chaos on the ground, the entrenchment of hamas among the palestinian people and hamas is misappropriating aid. what realistic and meaningful guardrails are being employed by the by the ministration to prevent hamas from obtaining the food, the water, the medicine, and other humanitarian aid that is

intended for civilians? >> i would be happy to take that one, congressman. to date, we have not seen evidence that we have diverted that aid. something that we are monitoring. it is quite a difficult security environment on the other side. in gaza where aid goes in and where aid workers are working but we are doing our best. >> thank you. i appreciate that. >> joe, the chair recognizes mr. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank our witnesses for being here. i want to begin by reaffirming my support for israel and condemning in the strongest terms possible in this barbaric attack on october 7th. in february that was later called by. i also want to make clear this

is a war with hamas and not all palestinians or muslims generally. hamas started this war and is to be held accountable. we must also do everything we can to limit the casualties and provide humanitarian aid will begin. i would like to connect some of the dots. i've been a broader picture for folks who may be watching about the global battle that i see emerging against autocracy and terrorism. we will need to rise above our own partisan politics here to effectively combat. the president has quested slightly over $92 billion to help us respond between israel and hamas to support ukraine, and to support taiwan. and in the setting, what can you share about the growing connection between hamas and russia as well as russia's of israel? >> some of that would probably be better in a different setting. i think we are seeing clear evidence of that growing an offense relationship.

it is pretty appalling anything about it. russia is already clearly developed an arms relationship with iran. but now they are doing so with a terrorist organization. they are really on the wrong side and every possible sense but i would be happy to get back to you in a classified setting. >> i have been in those settings. can you briefly ballpark the percentage of support that hamas gets from iran in terms of their overall budget? >> i do not have those figures offhand. i think it has grown over time but you would also have to count in aid and training. there is a whole complex of support. >> yes. >> can you tell us about what iran has provided to russia in their war against ukraine? >> our defense intelligence agency has actually declassified significant

amounts of imagery demonstrating that a one-way attack that russia is using to attack civilians and civilian infrastructure in ukraine is actually of iranian origin. iran is providing weapons, training, and technical know- how to russia for its war of choice in ukraine. >> can either of you or both of you discuss how russia and china haven't popped up the? >> i would have to get back to you. i have drawn a blank on that. >> okay, that is fine. >> as i see what we are dealing with here, the need to respond to access. rogue states, terrorists, and dictators. warming relations with terrorist organizations like

hamas. verses reliance on iran as you mentioned and the worn ukraine and reliance on russia and china. even north korea is providing to russia. that is what brings together these overarching conflicts. you noted earlier in your testimony the presence of our carrier fleets in the recent arrival of. my understanding is that nine senior military positions in the command responsible for the middle east are caught in the current blockade. one impact hasn't had on our ability? >> what it has done is road the morale of our military leadership who has been nominated for other positions. we have, for example, our senior defense official in israel. and as not.

at a precise moment in time, working with the is really to four spends every day. his nomination is held up. >> i would note that we are 90s away from a potential government shutdown. our new speaker has chosen but that is a first time condition aid to israel. when this attack occurred, israel did not have an investor in place to israel, lebanon, or i run. our partisan politics are giving the way of our ability to respond to this crisis and support our allies. should put that aside and help with it with this crisis. thank you for your presence today. >> thank you very much, congressman. we now proceed to congresswoman of california. >> think, chairman.

thank you, chairman. i am glad to have you here to speak to us as we continue to show our support for israel. i am concerned that there is an increased attack on by iran's proxies in syria. last week, the number of reported injury doubled. i want to ask you, was it because there were additional attacks or because initial number of injuries were underreported? >> think you so much, congresswoman for the question. what it indicates is that some of the injuries became more apparent over time. many returned to duty and then reported symptoms after. that is what you saw an increase. >> okay. what is your assessment of the involvement in the war against iraq? i mean israel. in what is driving their

attacks? >> think you, congresswoman for that question. it is a question. as a movement, very ideologically committed to us. death to america, death to the , death of outlook. they have, thus, tried to enter into the frame. largely unsuccessfully thanks to the efforts of our u.s. military. >> can you talk about how that impacts our u.s. national security interests in the red sea like freedom of navigation? >> it is a direct threat. >> do you have any thoughts? >> i agree that it is a direct threat and i would know it is specifically wife one of the u.s. interests in the region and we have been very clear in the last several days about sending through the red sea as well as our nuclear guided summary. >> think you.

>> the gaza strip is a notoriously difficult military operating environment given the defense and expensive network. the idf has significant combat advantages over hamas and they have made progress in the first days of what would likely be a lengthy ground operation. i want to ask you if the administration is prepared to support israel throughout the duration of its campaign to defeat hamas. >> from president biden to secretary blinken to secretary austen and down the chain, the commitment is real security and having, ensuring what it needs to defend itself from. >> there is a bipartisan in congress that the revolutionary guard course designated as a terrorist organization by the eu. how is the administration proactively working with our eu

allies to that partisan goal? >> it is a topic of discussion and we certainly support them. >> all right, thank you. >> i would like to hear the remaining time to my college, mr. mills. >> thank you so much for that. i wanted to follow-up. we had a colleague of ours just recently on the other side that was talking about how these in the are being or. of the entire other area, there are about 260,000 structures. is that correct? >> you got me. i know this general dimensions of the gaza strip and the populations >> my understanding is that of the structures, about 9500 has been actually targeted as a result of. to look at areas where key hamas leadership is.

i just want to paint that perspective. that is only about 3% of the entire area. when you see media, they try to paint it as if it is an entire demolition of all of gaza. it is a false narrative. the next thing i want to ask is are you aware of a gentleman named? >> no. i am not. >> he is a hollywood actor. since they were certain prices. an interesting gentleman. at 25 years old, apparently, he is a radiologist, singer, hamas fighter, dr., and he has actually been killed and resurrected. quite a bit individual. the reason i mentioned this, he is about as real as it goes. he has legitimately gone for utilizing this misinformation of propaganda warfare is and continue to try to look as if the department of defense and the idf is in some way,

indiscriminately killing civilians which we know is to be false. just out of the last second i have or so, would you agree that some of the misinformation and propaganda that is being spun up at this time is, in fact, been proven inaccurate just like the ambulances and others that are appropriate train things that are untrue to try to gain unfavorable outcomes for our joint forces? >> is. a good example is the accusation that the idf is responsible for the hospital strike. >> thank you so much. i appreciate my colleague. with that, i yelled back. >> thank you very much, congresswoman. we now proceed to congresswoman sarah jacobs. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being here. i know we have had many conversations and classified settings where we have talked about the military operations on the ground as someone who

was jewish was family living in israel, this is deeply personal to me and my heart aches for every palestinian child who is being killed in this conflict through no fault of their own. i know one of the things that president biden has emphasized was the lessons that we learned in our own experience after september 11th. i was in middle school and we were still dealing with the consequences that this body and the united states in general made after that attack. one of the things that i think was a lesson learned was that minimizing civilian heart is important in the fight against extremism. i was wondering if you could share with the specific lessons learned in our own fight against terrorism that are useful in the situation now and that we conveyed to the israeli government. >> think you, congressman for

those questions. secretary austen speaks about lessons learned from the past two decades of united military experience. a key lesson is that there is a continuous and consistent need in order for military gains to be sustainable. >> i would just say the first trip that secretary blinken and i and the rest of his team made to israel felt 4-5 days after the massacre. i can only say that the leadership was in a state of shock and deep trauma. that trauma is still there. i think our job to be both on the civilian side of the military side is to be a strong shoulder to lean on and help

nation, trauma, and shock move through that as they made decisions about the military campaign and so forth. our leadership is engaged in that. the president spoke from his heart when he said that and he spoke as a friend that learned from us because we did make some very good decisions early on into that continuous fight against. >> think of. i know that israelis have openly said that many of the provisions we have seen around food, water, humanitarian assistance have been directly because of the advocacy of the u.s. government. i think you for all of your work on the and i know that has said that willing to do a pause

and i appreciate all the work that you have been doing to continue encouraging him to make sure that we are able to get the assistance. i want to move to forces in the region. obviously, we have repositioned significant resources to deter this from expanding, from further intervening. can you commit to us that you will come to congress before conducting hostilities against in this unfolding conflict. >> if you are referencing any other than self-defense strength that president biden has order under authority then, yes. i appreciate that. there has been public reporting about the u.s. improving the sale of military style weapons for the israeli national police.

one of the far right extremists. we have also seen concerns that some of those weapons, in addition to being used by the police, themselves, in ways that are probably not necessarily aligned with what we would want. directly to settlers who are engaging in violence. what assurances can you give us about whether or not those weapons are actually being approved and whether or not it will be used for things that i think we would all agree, we don't approve of. >> thank you. >> think you for that. in all of these cases, you provided assurances and we have rigorous oversight, monitoring for all of this. there are weapons that would be provided to immediate response

teams. supervised use of those and to the personnel who are volunteers for these organizations and within green line is real but we have an elaborate set of assurances. >> if i may, i would like to quickly follow up on a point that jacob is made on the use of military force. this committee is charged with that result ability. we take that very seriously. i understand you are using article two self-defense when it comes to our troop being under firing attack and i get that. if the administration were to respond either preemptively to the irgc or to hamas, do you believe that you would have to come before this committee for

that authorization? >> if we are responding to an attack in self-defense and we would rely on the presidents article to authority. if we were taking action that would elevate the constitutional sense, we would consult with congress and seek authorization for the use of the military force. >> and we wanted to respond. i would argue you do not have authorization to hit hamas. >> i would agree with you. >> if the united states, if president biden wanted to work with israel to respond, we would certainly come consult with congress. >> think. i think we are all in

agreement. the chair now recognizes ms. salazar. >> thank you, sharon. thank you for your service. you know i represent the city of miami. the chairman of the subcommittee. i have a few questions to you about columbia and cuba. this picture shows the cuban ambassador to lebanon. who is the hamas representative in lebanon was the political many medium relations. >> to cut light right to the chase, what would you think would be the purpose of this meeting? why is a meeting with the rep senator representative of such

high standing in hamas? >> does not look good to me. i cannot imagine what legitimate purpose it would be meeting with a terrorist organization representative. >> i agree with you. i am sure nothing good is coming out of this meeting. the only thing that we could think of is maybe the human regime is inviting operatives for havana. only 90 weights from the house. the city of miami. you have an info about that? >> i do not personally but i would be happy to look into it and come back to you wanted. >> please do. cuba is in the list of countries that sponsors terrorism. we know that the biden administration has been thinking. some of the representatives of the by demonstration have been within the state department, talking about the possibility of removing cuba from that list of states that sponsor terrorism. could you send a message to

your colleagues that maybe after something like this, cuba should remain on that list? >> i would be happy to take that back. >> what you think about that? >> quite frankly, i have not been following this issue in terms of cuba. i do not have an opinion but i would be happy to take us back to my colleagues. >> all right. let's go to columbia. let me go to the other one. >> the president of columbia, throughout his time in office, he has been talking about hamas. one of the comments, and i am being pretty rigorous, she compares the. a few days ago, president compared gaza to. a few weeks ago, he recalled of the colombian ambassador in israel. the question is how does interprets these comments,

actions from the columbia present? >> i can speak to it. in the sense that this is obviously an appalling set of comparisons misusing the notion of the holocaust to compare it to what is going on right now is really beyond the pale. >> has the presidents of columbia with a lot of difference. i just want to hear your comments and your opinions. what would you be sending back ? what message would you be sending back to the state department? about the action and the words of the president of columbia question is this the first time i have been made aware of this, congresswoman. i am happy to take this back. >> you know, someone should be

aware and knowledgeable of what is happening in our backyard. >> for better or worse, i have a remit in the middle east that keeps me busy 24 seven. it's been a little bit difficult to look beyond the dialogue. >> i understand that your job is very big but i am very happy that i have brought your attention the fact that these two countries that are very close in that hemisphere are behaving or acting this way or speaking this way. that is the last question. cuba and columbia and our backyard. 90 miles away from miami. specifically the cuban government is inviting hamas operatives to our hemisphere. how concerning? >> i would certainly be concerned if they were inviting hamas to our hemisphere and that is something we will look into. >> i would like for you very

much to get back to us and tell us if you have any type of information. if any, personnel have crossed to this hemisphere. more to other than probably any other country. could i count on that? >> you could count on that. >> you bet. >> the chair recognizes mr. manning. >> thank you to our witnesses. on october 7th, we awoke in horror as they fired rockets that innocent civilians, stormed the border, invaded israel. going to house to house murdering babies, getting parented one of their children. massacring 260 young people at a music festival and murdering more than 400 innocent people on one terrible day. in addition, hamas took more than 240 innocent civilians

hostages including elderly women, young children, and babies. i have beside me, pictures of some of these men, women, and children. i would like to ask everyone to look at their faces. each one of them is a precious individual who has seven members who love them and are desperate to know if they are safe desperate for their return. i have met with the families of hostages for the past three weeks. people like the siegel family from carolina, were kidnapped from. sister handed her three-year- old daughter to her husband while they were trying to escape because he could run faster while she sacrificed herself to save her daughter. abigail more who became an orphan on october 7th when her parents were killed in front of

her before she was taken alone. >> just like the stories of the survivors, the story of every hostages unique and heartbreaking. i have given these families my word that i continue to tell their stories and push the administration to do everything that they can to secure their release. i know you can give them hope that we will spare no effort to secure their release. i believe that you said that before today. i just wanted to ask you that question again. >> of course. you absolutely have the commitment of this administration to do everything in its power to see the release of these hostages. >> it is one of the reasons why department of defense immediately set advisers to support the release of the hostages. >> me know that the

international committee of the red cross has not been let in to see the hostages, to see that they are alive and give word of their families. >> hamas. >> hamas is preventing the red cross going and see the red cross is and give the family some hope that those people are alive. the only reason we know some of them are alive is because of the comments of the five hostages, four hostages who have been released and one who has been saved by soldiers. is that correct? >> there was also the really deplorable fact that hamas has put some of the hostages on video and televise that. it is a dreadful situation for the families and their loved ones.

hamas should not allow access to the hostages. >> what information can you share with us in this setting about what the u.s. is doing to get our partners and allies in the region >> as i indicated earlier, we have two work partners. the problem is, who they are dealing with. they are exercising every bit of their influence and their energy to try to break the pass on the hostages. >> assistant secretary leave, in your opinion, are you satisfied with the actions turkey, a nato ally and cutter, i've taken so far.

>> i am not releasing turkey he engaged in this effort. i know having talked regularly with the prime minister, foreign minister that he is personally engaged in the effort. he has a large teamwork 24 seven. >> think. my time is expiring. i yield back. >> i'm going to stick the other jumping off point. first, icrc. is it doing enough? there is some question that it is real commitment. all you have to do is look at some of the previous years and

decades. pretty hard on israel over the years and some have suggested that the icrc is not doing enough to pursue this because of the relationship with israeli. he shared a common on that. >> congressman, i have no reason to think the icrc is not doing enough on this. i would just add that staff had been in the direct line of fire, and gaza. doing a critical piece of work which is escorting ambulances with wounded. >> this is been a condition that gaza has placed on the exit. icrc stepped up to the task. >> we can for that later.

turning to guitar and the report of hamas leaders living a lavish lifestyle in the country. >> obviously, we have a very important relationship i hope thousand of troops. regional central command is there. what sort of communications has he had with qatar to kick out hamas terrorists residing in the country? and really making sure that they are ensuring that they are not providing hamas with any of the means to fund this again. >> you make an interesting point. it really goes to this question of what hamas thinks is representing or doing.

it's leaders do live in the lap of luxury overseas quite in contrast to the palestinians in gaza over whom they will. two your question, at this point, at our request, israel's request is working on the issue of hostage release. it's fair to say that we have been clear with all of our partners and countries around the world that it will not be back to business as usual going forward. >> actually happen also serve on the financial services committee and the chair of the oversight and investigation subcommittee. lastly, we had to hear him on terrorism financing. my colleague, mr. hill, myself, we all had amendments today on some of the appropriations looking at how we choke off the

terrorism funding. there are other countries in the neighborhood. obviously, qatar is -- i have seen reports that are provided over $1 billion lots of concern a findability. to house the administration ensuring that assistance entering gaza does not have this dual-purpose, dual use purpose. it could be cash, which is very functionable but it could be fuel, medicine, supplies that while the west intends could be easily diverted. this at this point, what is going into gaza, humanitarian assistance is that it is it goes through multiple checks.

this is part of what is this slowdown of assistance going in. i take your point on the larger question of financing and believe me when i say that a counter effort will be a top priority going forward. >> i've got just a couple of seconds left. we know about iran's oil sales. detuned some reports of $80 billion in the last year. we also know they are purchasing or selling electricity through iraq. i have had a letter to secretary blinken with myself and who heads up the terrorism finance subcommittee for financial services asking very specific questions. are you aware of this letter? >> we will send it to you. this is very important that we look at this.

this notion that this administration changed policy on this. they are now converting those into euros. not to be fine goods and services in that. they are in euros. and continue to push on this, mr. chairman. i know my time is up but i appreciate the responsiveness. can be following up with you on some of the issues. >> the chair recognizes ms. d. >> more important, i think you for your service and your clarity and purpose at this extraordinarily challenging time. as all of us have said, it has been a little over a month since the grotesque brutal,

slaughter. as a mom and a grandmom, the worst. the children, the babies. but men, women, and children butchered, slaughtered, . more than 200 hostages. we all unequivocally can bend the october 7th attack. i condemned hamas. >> we have to ensure the safe return of the hostages. i was appreciative of my questions. do you have any possible update. >> i would not want to jeopardize the efforts that are underway. >> i appreciate that. i felt i had asked that i had

not sensitivity. >> we have to do everything to maintain on both sides of the fence. the loss of innocent, civilian life in gaza called upon the administration to do everything in their power for the extraordinary work that they are doing. and to make sure that folks are taking care of as much as possible in these extraordinarily difficult situations. is not us to have a right to be at war. i want the administration to continue to look up in his

life. dead babies on either side of the fence are unaccountable to me. we have talked a lot about gaza. i wonder if we could switch a little bit to the bank. messerli expressed concerned about the stability of the. which is led to the displacement of at least 828 palestinians from their homes and 15 different communities in the west bank since october 7. you point out that even the start of the latest crisis, there were violent attacks day after day, multiple attacks in a single day. how are you in administration engaging with israel.

the coalition administration to prevent pearly further surveillance. when i was on the ground, this was prior to october 7. >> this is been a topic of discussion between us four months >> what has. sometime several dozen a day. they are more violent. beatings and destruction of property. some have been killed by. >> quite a few. >> destruction of property that is aimed at holy damaging. this, elaborated of these

communities. related but welcome awakening to the alarming trend lines. awakening in the senior leaders of the coalition. they have committed to us to pursue, to deter, the activities and bring accountability those who engage in them. >> a secretary blinken side, several days ago when he had this engagement with the government, reheard the right thing but we are going to follow this in detail and we want to see a can ability. >> i apologize. my time is expired. i'm going to offer some questions for you as well in writing. i yield back.

>> the chair now recognizes mr. hill. >> thank you, ladies, for being here for your testimony. thank you for hanging out for this extended period of time. going in the ministry, you just left. i know as paid off now that we are in a crisis mode. i think those hours payoff. my office and in contact with me into doing those wife and two years in gaza and has all the information. within a reasonable job staying in touch with them. i am not on the complaint factor but the situation at rfo border crossing has been really tenuous. what is your plan to get the rfo border crossing open so americans who are stuck in gaza can have more particularly

about getting out? >> kung guzman, this is an issue that we are just working nonstop. nobody is more dedicated to this task than ambassador satterfield and his team. the complexity of the task has been essentially, hamas has a condition, flow, outflow of foreign nationals on a steady stream of wounded being taken through the crossing. that is required in mendick of the scarring of those. very colorful collaboration between very. there is some siding in the vicinity. sometimes calms her down. we have compiled a list of 700+ constituents or mary that since and their family. we are working at metering than through day after day. >> i think it is tough. the palestinian passport.

she is a u.s. green card holder. the kids get on the list but the parent does not. >> no. actually what is happening is sometimes, families will be on different lists but we have a counselor team on the other side and we are putting people together. >> that is really important, i think. daily drama for many members who are helping americans because they find their names are not on the list. thank you for your diligence. >> this year, the house nda allies in the middle east. and in follow-up to your conversation with chairman mccall. clearly, iran backs these proxies. in testimony, the state apartment said they would not where the men to be on a major

fortification. stance by not including on and a unf? >>. we still do not support on the 2001, which was specifically geared towards nonstate actors. our object is to de-escalate in the region. >> well, i will ask you how that is working. not so good. i think they have ramped up this effort and everything that we thought might come to have a few years between. this is what i think we have to make a tough stand towards iran. normalization. again, the year of forward.

much even more aggressive from you. but they have done it. have you seen anything that is remotely on track? >> it is exclusively because of syrian --. it's a dead-end. >> i have expressed that personal view. on behalf of anybody come up on behalf of myself to saudi arabia, jordan, and iraq.

i hope the united states will speak with one voice that normalization is a bad idea and we are monitoring very closely. >> that may have been a trigger for this hamas invasion of israel if i'm honest with you. in addition to being the 50 year anniversary of yom kippur. >> thank you very much, chairman mccall. for convening this important hearing on one of our nation's strongest allies, israel. i want to thank the witnesses for being here today. recently i have had honest and emotional -- with my constituents in arizona. people who i have respected and worked for for decades. i have heard the deep divisions as well as the fear created by the tragic rise in anti-semitism and islamophobia here in the united states. as americans we can freely debate many contentious issues.

but we cannot allow that to turn into hatred. since it's founding 75 years ago america's support for the only democracy in the middle east has been resolute and unwavering. and always, always bipartisan. that cannot and will not change. the reality is israel cannot be secure and there can be no lasting peace for israelis or palestinians, no two states side by side, until hamas is destroyed. hamas does not care about the palestinian people. they care about one thing, the complete destruction and elimination of israel from the river to the sea. in pursuit of that goal, hamas has preyed on innocent palestinians. hamas doesn't hide it. its leaders talk about their willingness to make palestinian civilians martyrs in their wicked mission.

right now hamas has 240 women, children, grandparents, holocaust survivors hostage in -- conditions. hostages they have threatened to execute. there can be no safe harbor for hamas and congress must act unequivocally in support of israel in this fight. i'm a proud supporter of israel. i'm also proud supporter of the palestinian people. i support the palestinian state. i believe that every palestinian has a god-given right to a more prosperous future. i'm thankful that president biden restored u.s. assistance to the palestinian people after president trump had ended it. today we should do everything we can to get aid to those in gaza, who need it the most,

including food and clean water, medical care, fuel, and shelter. history has reminded us time and time again of the importance of the jewish state. we must protect it. not only because it is the right thing to do, but because israel's security is tied to america's national security. shared is really intelligence boosts the government's ability to participate in responding to threats in the middle east and the military edge provides a measure of stability in this region. this congress needs to quickly pass a national security funding package that mirrors the presidents for request. one that includes humanitarian aid to gaza, additional aids to ally, ukraine, and secures our southern border. i will work across the aisle to get this done. thank you for answering the

earlier question about the future administration of gaza. it is something that i am particularly worried about as well. he said that the palestinian authority is the appropriate place to look for governance. in your opinion, what is the most realistic scenario of what a palestinian authority governance would look like in gaza? >> this is a difficult question to answer at the moment. we are doing a lot of analysis and looking at the question holistically. the palestinian authority, as you know, as only partial responsibilities in the west bank. it does not govern the entire space and it has equal measures of responsibility in several areas. what we will see in terms of security conditions in gaza, israel is successful, or depending on the degree of success that israel has incapacitating the military

capabilities of hamas, will go directly to who and how manages that. we are just at the front end of looking at that. i can't really tell you whether the p.a. is fit to go in or probably not. we will consult thoroughly with both israel and the palestinians as we think through this prospect. >> i have additional questions that i will submit in writing for the record, including how the department of defense will accelerate the security assistance to israel, including iron dome and other things like that. >> thank you, congressman. we now proceed to the congressman from indiana. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the witnesses being here very much. my question relates to this background. the united nations relief and works agency for the palestinian refugee in the near

east is a u.n. agency tasked with the mandate. james lindsay candidly admits, i am sure there are hamas members on the payroll and i don't see that as a crime. he also states -- is taken very few steps. the largest contributor is united states.

they receive emergency funding for response projects. my first question is, has the u.n. released any emergency funding since october 7th? >> has the u.n. released funding sense? yes. i don't have those exact figures. there is an emergency appeal. >> so continuing with that thought, how many u.s. taxpayer dollars have been authorized? and how much of that money has been funded to hamas? >> we provide something on the order of 300 million this year. those monies go to lebanon,

gaza, west bank, and jordan. much of the attention is focused on the really critical life-saving support that it provides in gaza to the palestinians there. i'm not aware of such monies -- these matters. >> so in your opinion, should the united states continue to fund? and if so, why? >> it provides an irreplaceable role in gaza. especially at this time, congressman. they have the infrastructure and the personnel on the ground to reach those in distress and in harms way. >> thank you.

>> there is a moral, operational, and strategic imperative. and we support that. >> and the abraham accords are talking about it then. it is more focused on how we can work to expand the accords. but now the question seems to be, is it even feasible? assistant secretary leave, can you give us your opinion about how this war plays a role in the abraham accords? >> congressman, i will be very candid with you. the conflict and the visuals, the daily toll of casualties among palestinians in the gaza strip.

there's a great polarization occurring both in the region and in the streets. of course the work between the parties, israelis, and palestinians. the older relationships and jordan and israel and those still in the offing. and those are the critical pieces of our diplomat work in that period ahead. >> i think you and daniel back. >> we now proceed to congressman jonathan jackson in

illinois and south carolina. >> you very much. chairman mccall, thank you. ranking member meeks, i've had the pleasure once again this past september with the -- caucus. and from there we went to rwanda and they were showing the connectivity of the one culture that had experienced genocide and the other that had experienced the holocaust and commonality. i condemn the atrocious terrorist attacks of hamas and stand by that. i was one of the several people listed for a cease-fire. and i want to be clear what cease-fire means to me. first of all, bringing back our hostages, reconciling human beings, reconciling family

members. as we speak, i got another call today. as another constituent that has a sister that is stuck at the rafah gate. an american citizen that is stuck at the border as well. following along with mr. french, what is the process? americans are able to evacuate and leave their without their life being threatened. >> we have exhaustive outreach to americans in gaza. we had determined, just over the last 24 hours, that there were an additional 100 american and family members that are helping getting out. we have put american citizens and their family members on the list that are shared with the egyptian government in israel so that there is an ability to

get them in the queue as it were. it is a difficult process -- for those that are queued up in different places in gaza. >> they lost 5 million people in the drc. they ended up arresting 30,000 people that went to jail for the atrocities that happened. what cease-fire meant to me is that we can acknowledge that this was an intelligence failure by the idf that ended up creating so much of this.

i am strong for defense. israel needs its defense. i am also for diplomacy. retaliation took place 30 days ago. i don't think we had all of our diplomacy in place. and what gives for long-lasting peace so that we can have reconciliation amongst the people. i'm seeing people become heartened. i live in the district where the child was stabbed to death. people are being radicalized. we are seeing this escalate over time. i'm asking for a cease-fire simply to give humanitarian aid. if there is one innocent person killed, for me that's too many. if it takes more time -- so that we do not kill innocent

people, i am for that. if we have learned anything after $2 trillion bombing afghanistan, it's that osama bin laden was in pakistan across from a military base watching netflix or hulu in a complex with his family. he wasn't even in the country. what is the long-term path toward peace that we are administering now in pursuit of hamas and to reconcile these people and not make the palestinian people feel as if they are our enemy? >> excellent question, congressman. the long-term effort is we are medicating and basing our diplomacy on even now. there is the urgent issue of humanitarian assistance to

assist civilians to get out of harms way. cow own personnel and citizens out of gaza, the hostages released. even as we welcome the urgent issues of today we are planning for the post-conflict period when it is clear, it is indisputably clear to us and the administration, to all of our partners in the region, that the palestinian quest for statehood must be answered. we must contribute, we must lay out a pathway for a negotiated solution to the end. they have a right to a state. has been recognized by multiple administrations over decades. and that quest must be answered. really derail it once and for all. hamas is determined to weapon eyes that cause. and this is something we must work urgently to prevent. i take your point on the cease- fire. i would just say that we are working for humanitarian pauses

that will get just the things you're talking about. a cease-fire, when it comes, or an end to hostilities, when it comes, we want to see an end to the ability for hamas to operate as it has in the past. also perpetrating an attack that we must never let me repeat it. >> thank you, congressman jackson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm trying to reconcile something that i have heard today. and that hamas leadership has said. before i get to that, we just struck our affiliates in syria again today. apparently within a couple of hours. why does the biden administration refused to put

iran surrogates on any au mf? i have heard you say the word, de-escalate, here. this region, after service in the military, israel, afghanistan, and cutter. this region understands one thing. power. if we are going to deter you must have the power of hitting storage sites and may not be empty. it does not seem to me to be deterrence. why does the administration refuse to put iranian surrogates on any -- and how can you justify that given how this is moving? >> thank you for your question. i can confirm that a bow and arrow ago the u.s. conducted self-defense strikes in

response to recent attacks against u.s. forces in eastern syria. we look forward to providing further details to you soon. to be very clear, iran is the origin and has the fingerprints of the army training equipping and directing of these militia groups. putting iran aligned militia groups is declaring war on iran. our objective in the region is to prevent war, to prevent escalation. >> did you say that putting them on and au mf is declaring war on iran? >> it is requesting the authorization to use military force against iran aligned militia groups. the president has directed self- defense under his article to authority. our approach to deterring iran is both the significant increases combined with the demonstrated willingness to use force, as well as robust diplomacy and tools to compel the senior ship of iran to

direct its processes to stop attacking u.s. forces. >> one contractor was killed. in turn, we have deterred successfully iran by killing the number three man in the hierarchy. is that correct? >> in the previous administration there was a stray console money. >> correct. >> under this headmistress we have had 40 attacks in the recent weeks. 40 attacks maybe in that order. we have hit ammunition dumps, weapons storage sites twice now. correct? >> resident biden directed self- defense strikes against facilities in eastern syria affiliated with the i rgc.

>> i want to go to my main line of questioning. do you know where he lives? >> yes. of course. they speak with him. >> why does cutter allow him movement to iran and back in the last few days? and also why did they allow the iranian hierarchy to visit him and cutter? why is that? >> i can speak to the discussions that the countries have had with the iranians other than i think they are using every channel they can to get issue with the hostages. including by iran. >> secretary blinken said there could be no more business as usual with hamas. we are allowing cutter to use him, and the infrastructure.

and they are not having much success. i understand releasing the hostages. but what i hear, we will do october 7th again and again. when we hear them say, i believe it was today or yesterday, they are seeking permanent war. i would like to ask you a question about palestinians. because we are talking, and this committee, about palestinians like they are only in gaza and the west bank. they are not. i think they are now in the fourth generation in the jordanian refugee camps. is that correct? probably the fourth generation. why are we equating palestinians to gaza and the

west bank? no nation in the middle east wants the palestinians. hence the refugee camps. >> i guess the way i would characterize it, the general perspective of most all governments in the least, to my knowledge, they also for the creation of the palestinian state. and for the palestinians to govern themselves within that state. >> will no state is willing to give them land for it. here's another question for you. how many have repudiated? >> no more than five. >> okay. >> you have morocco, bahrain, jordan, egypt. and then de facto, you have several other countries that work very closely with israel openly on different matters.

>> vidal's time has expired. >> the chair now recognizes mr. schneider. >> thank you to the witnesses for your patience with us here today. a couple of quick questions. when did israel pull out of gaza? >> in 2005. yes. >> and who was in control after israel left? >> initially the p.a. then there was a coup. so it was hamas after. >> when did the coup happen? >> 2007. >> and since 2007, when they took over gaza, how many ask a conferences between israel and hamas have resulted in a negotiated cease-fire? >> there have been very tenuous cease-fires. they have been good for a couple days, good for a couple months, then they have collapsed.

>> what was the status of the cease-fire? >> of course. it was sort of an on and off again affair. you have had rockets pop off. >> israel is observing it. thank you for your time. who violated the cease-fire on october 7th? >> very purely hamas. >> who slaughtered 260 young people at a music festival? >> that would be hamas. >> reporter: who murdered 130 people october 7th? >> hamas. >> who butchered children in a nursery october 7th? >> hamas. >> is it a war crime to intentionally target civilians? >> absolutely. >> a war crime to use torture as a tactic? >> obsolete. >> to burn people in their homes? >> yes. >> to take 240 people hostage? >> absolutely. >> to deny the red cross.

>> absolutely. >> is a war crime to use an ambulance to transport fighters? >> yes it is. >>, to launch rockets? using human shields? >> it is. it is. >> let me ask a broader question. we have talked about this war and we went through a rapidfire list of questions. is the civilians who always get caught in the middle. i have said that many times. we need to bring this war to its rapid conclusion as humanly possible because of civilians in gaza and israel are suffering. almost 1 million people have been displaced in gaza. but what would happen if israel were to agree to a cease-fire before dismantling hamas's ability to fight? >> congressman, you put your finger on the issue right here. and i would agree with you. the suffering in gaza amongst civilians is wrenching. it is

wrenching for the government, the public's in the middle east were watching this. and on the other hand, to call a cease-fire right now, which might or might not be honored by hamas, would be to leave hamas and control of 240 hostages, including babies and children, and also leave fairly well attacked the infrastructure and terrorism capacity of hamas. >> levied on that for one second. you have used two terms that i think are important to distinguish. were fighting and terrorism. what is were fighting? what does it mean to say, were fighting? >> it means to use military force to achieve an objective. >> distinct from terrorism? terrorism is crossing a border,

beheading babies, sexually assaulting women, killing concertgoers. >> the point is terror. the war fighting a soldier on soldier. as we saw on october 7th, what hamas did was in no way a war. it is pure terrorism. >> let me say this, thank goodness for president biden. his moral clarity and political courage and this conflict has been just extraordinary. i know it is appreciated by the people in israel and it should be equally appreciated by the people in the united states and around the world. as you made it clear, israel has a right to defend itself. but we talk about that it is in the context of war fighting >> absolutely. and it has an obligation to defend its people from terrorism and from the kind of attacks that we saw on october 7th. >> i'm out of time. let me comment on two last things. one was a quote they said the

very beginning with your marks. u.s. commitment israel is ironclad. we have said that, the president has said that. camp david and israel, hospital records. is it also fair that the united states is also committed to bringing peace to both israel and the palestinians once hamas is defeated? >> absolutely. it's the only way that we will not see a terrible repetition of these events. >> thank you. i yelled back. >> the chair recognizes mr. james. >> ambassador, thank you for your time and for your stamina. i have a quick question for you followed my couple of others. how do we address the anti- semitism at the u.n.? >> that's an excellent question. i'm not sure. it is really

something that we have seen for years and is a very casual kind of anti-semitism that we see among some member states. >> madam, i would respectfully correct you. there is no such thing as casual anti-semitism. let me try. earlier this year i led 30 of my colleagues in sending a letter to the state department demoting the abraham accords in africa. i share this with you because i believe the trump administration's vision of peace in the middle east and iran is in jeopardy following the's attack on october 7th. this is an attack against not just israelis, but on humanity broadly. there is a sense that advancements in israeli normalization might be on a long pause.

that this bloodshed on october 7th of innocent civilians might yield yet another generation of terror and meaningless death. is that also your assessment? >> yes. >> the abraham accord i believe is our best diplomatic strategy to box out iran and show the world that american leadership can truly lead to peace, which we have done so any times in our great nation's history. part of what we are seeing with the united nations is the destabilization that is being fomented by russia and china is that they are trying to break the global south away from alignment with the united states that impedes our interest abroad with america and its allies. the progress that was meant to be made inside watching bombs and firing bullets extending the abraham accords to africa.

we can exchange culture and partnerships. since the future is unknown on the gaps between america and the arab world, how can we best avoid further entanglements with iran as proxies? if we don't take steps like the abraham accords that have artie worked to curb the growing spheres of communist influence emanating from beijing and moscow right now. >> thank you for that question. what is clear is that iran, russia, and china all view themselves as benefiting from challenging the rules-based international order. the united states and our coalition of allies and partners benefit from enforcing and standing up for the international order that includes standing up for israel's ability to defend itself from terrorism, given what adjust experience from hamas on october 7th, and it also includes standing up and

supporting ukraine and its war to defend itself from russian aggression. the department of defense was building on the progress of the abraham accords through advancing regional security constructs such as integrated air and missile defense, multilateral cooperation at sea in the maritime domain, and what we are actually seeing now is that partners, even today, view that as beneficial to be cooperating , sharing intelligence, sharing information, and seeing the threats coming from iran. >> totally agree. one of the big things of very concerned with is exactly supporting that mission and boosting our capacity to satisfy our obligation in getting our defense and industrial base with the allies. especially after helping america defend itself. some working on that as well.

have you vocalized to president biden or secretary blinken any concerns for the lack of sanctions and enforcement on iran? and the consequences that would manifest itself through that like we saw in october 7th. it was widely reported this past august that there was a relaxing of sanctions on iran to increase the supply of oil into the world so that we could have cheaper oil here in america. are you getting any indication that there is a relaxation of sanctions on iran due to this issue? >> absolutely not, congressman. >> chairman, il. >> the chair recognizes. >> thank you for being here today, witnesses. i would say many of my jewish constituents.

the trauma lives on with the missing hostages held in gaza, including my constituents. the three-year-old, abigail, whose parents were killed by hamas before she was kidnapped. they come together with muslim and palestinian americans to deplore the terror and violence that innocent palestinians are enduring in gaza. and we are seeing an appalling rise in anti-semitism and islamophobia in my district and beyond. no one feels safe. i want peace. i think we all want peace. i hope we all believe that all people have the right to live with dignity, self- determination, without fear of extension. what is abundantly clear to me is that after decades of negligence now is the time for the united states and the international community to put our diplomatic might behind a sustainable long-term political solution to the israeli

palestinian conflict. israel's security depends on it, the palestinian humanity depends on it, and the liberal international order may suffer a fatal blow without it. i think one way to decapitate hamas is to give the palestinians another option. secretary leif, how is the administration signaling that a two state solution is the only kind of and that the united states will accept to this conflict? >> you have nicely summed up exactly where the administration is. there is urgency to doing exactly that. pointing the way to a negotiated palestinian state. secretary blinken has been signaling that over this last period. he was quite to the point on

this with both the palestinian authority and with all of our arab partners and our israeli partners, frankly. this is sort of the missing element at the heart of the story, the unresolved quest for stated by the palestinians. the other thing that you put your finger on, which i found very much mirrored in israel on the west bank. israeli jews are afraid of israeli arabs. israeli arabs are afraid of is really jews. palestinians are afraid of israelis. israelis are terrified of palestinians. there is a heightened state of fear and anxiety among all of the communities, which as you said, are reflected here in our own country. the way that we begin to pull people back from the state of anxiety and this mistrust of the other is precisely by going

to the heart of the matter and helping the palestinians in their quest for statehood. >> you have any concern that this war will grow more hardliners on both sides? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> how do we prevent that? >> getting the conflict to an end as rapidly as possible and making sure that hamas is driven out of business. i would say that the secretary has a turn of phrase about this. he said you can destroy a military capability terrorist organization, but you can't kill an idea, except for the better idea. that is palestinian statehood. >> we have talked about getting rid of the taliban from afghanistan. that has not happened. we have to completely destroy hamas. how does that happen? you said, you cannot destroy ideas. >> it's a political process. it's a political issue at the heart of it, which is the unresolved quest for statehood. that is something that we can lead on. >> can you have success without

diplomacy? >> it is absolutely critical to do it diplomatically. >> how are we working given that netanyahu has stalled or rejected the u.s. call for a humanitarian pause? does this remain a priority for us? how do we move the needle with israel on this? >> we are working relentlessly on the issue. >> last question. i know the palestinians were told to evacuate to the south from the north. they also have concerns about permanent displacement. so how do we still move innocent palestinians to safety so that >> we will -- full stop. the way that we get palestinian communities out of harms way is

something we have really urged the israelis, the idf, to look to with care and attention. we will oppose any displacement of the palestinians outside of their own territory. >> thank you for your responses. i yelled back, mr. chair. >> the chair recognizes mr. moran. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to assistant secretary leif and to -- >> keep your time for you. i have to leave unfortunately. i just want to thank the two of you for being so patient. thanks for putting up with everything else. please, i want to ask you about the gaza administration of health, the administration information we're getting from them and what appears to be

information i'm not so sure is correct. i want to go through a few things. agencies and others have sided with death tolls in recent reports. the international committee of the red cross and the palestinian red crescent also use these numbers, rely on these numbers, as does the united nations. several news publications site numbers from hamas for their data. frankly, i'm a little skeptical about the data that is coming out. both president biden and the national security council spokesman john kirby have been publicly skeptical of the gaza health ministry numbers and call them unreliable due to control by hamas. >> tell me about the types of propaganda. i will start with secretary leif. other proxies are spreading

using either the ministry of health or other organizations located in palestine. >> congressman, i would say that hamas -- social media in particular to circulate its propaganda and circulate disinformation. i would just say this period of conflict and conditions of or, it is very difficult for any of us to assess what the rate of casualties are. we think that they are very high, even higher than being cited. we will only know after the guns fall silent. we take in sourcing from a variety of folks who are on the ground.

i can't stipulate to one figure or another. it's very possible that they are even higher than is being recorded. >> i appreciate that answer. that kind of goes to my next question. i was going to specifically ask about the number 10,000 that is the number that, as of november 6, is being reported as the number of palestinians in gaza who have been killed. in my question to you is going to be, do we think that number is higher or lower? do we have any visibility? do we have any reliable information that would give us indication one way or another on that number? >> as i've said, we have a lot of different sources from people that we know that are on the ground that are ngos and others who are operating their. i think we will only have a faithful figure at the end, tragically. as a point of comparison, gaza strip is about 25 miles in length, seven to 12 miles in

width. you've got 2.2 million or thereabouts of people compressed into a piece of land that is comparable to rhode island i guess. i think rhode island has actually been larger and is half the population. so in these extraordinarily dense confines it just stands to reason that there are very high casualties. >> in my last minute i want to switch gears and ask of you about iran's participation early on in the assault. there are advanced missiles and drones targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure used by hamas. information has come to me and indicates it would be iran that has provided that to them, either as a proxy or directly. what is it that we need to be doing to push back against iran's participation and the hamas terrorist attacks is started on october 7th and continue through today?

>> the question of a direct iranian involvement in the operation is still a question that analysts are looking at very closely. i have heard a variety from intelligence services when i was out in the region with some officials saying they found that even the political elements of hamas were clearly in a state of surprise on october 7th. that this was a very silent operation and that other elements of the so-called axis were in the dark. all that said, it's fair to say that he runs at the table for this. in the years of support he gave to training and legal aid and finances and other elements of proxies. we need to strangle the financing. the weaponry, a lot of that has apparently been manufactured on site in gaza. underground. so there has been an enormous

amount of smuggling. we are very dedicated to the proposition of helping egypt do what is necessary to really tighten its border controls. >> thank you, assistant secretary leif. ma'am, i appreciate both of your time today. mr. chairman, i yelled back. >> in queue, congresswoman. we now proceed to congressman tom kean of new jersey. >> thank you, mr. chairman. on the morning of saturday, october 7th, the hamas lunch was brutal and expanded its surprise attack on israel. perpetrated by hamas and palestinian islamic jihad.

we stand ready to ensure survival. any pause will not allow hamas to continue in its terroristic activities and would be united in our efforts and defeat the evil that is hamas. can you walk us through a little bit now? what are the current sources of funding and what diplomatic conversation is the ministration having to try to limit funds to hamas in jurisdictions that previously allowed the fund to flow to this terrorist group? >> i think that we will go back to the efforts that we had against isis. or al qaeda.

another major terrorist organization. the effort to drive the funding , to cut it off from both governments. but also private donations is a long trench warfare. and that's what we are going to be doing globally. going around to just restrict and break up. >> we are already doing that? >> we have started on that. yes we have. >> what is your assessment of the current pace of attacks against israel? and what are they hoping to achieve with these attacks. >> the current rate of attacks from his northern border is escalating. what we know is that hamas or hezbollah has a larger missile arsenal than hamas. by orders of magnitude. it is seeking to threaten the security of the state of israel

, which is why hundreds of thousands of israeli citizens have evacuated from the north. >> what consequences will iran face for its board of hamas? >> i would say, first of all, it's not just a question of what consequences iran will face for the united states. ron should face consequences from the international community . for everyone who shares an interest, israel's international order in which a state actor funds nonstate actors arms, trains, quips, and directs them. it's not just only about what the united states is doing, which is demonstrating a willingness and readiness to use military force multiple times in this administration and most recently only an hour ago, as well as the increases in force posture. and the diplomatic coordination . we are urging all of our allies and partners to impose consequences on iran for its support of terrorism.

>> you anticipated my next question, which is regarding the eu and the fact they had a divided response. how are you helping to ensure that you -- how are we ensuring that the broader organizations are standing up against evil and supporting good? >> that is something that we are very focused on. as my colleague said, i would put it in the way that i did with a number of our partners as i worked around the region in the past several weeks. this crisis really illuminated starkly for all of them with a all new intellectually. iran had this architecture of proxies.

they were all coming up with this crisis. just really desperate to get into the fight. you can see the iraqi militia groups and the threat that they pose in multiple directions. this has really highlighted for everyone that they needed highlighting. we will have some hard conversations with those who are slow to the punch. >> with respect, successful conversations. not hard conversations. >> we don't get credit for trying and results. >> eight weeks ago today i was meeting with netanyahu. the american people will stand with israel. whatever it takes for their survival.

it is appropriate that we conclude with my caller of new york. >> thank you, chairman. last month president biden announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for the gaza strip. obviously no one wants to see innocent life lost or impacted by the ongoing conflict. however, i have great concern about this $100 million. and the reality that hamas, as the governing body in gaza, would intercept who is receiving these funds? and what

accountability measures are there to ensure that hamas does not have access to it? and what would be the response of the administration if they found that in fact these funds were still being utilized to further terrorism? >> at this moment it's hardly possible to say that hamas is governing. it is down. >> you would agree that they are the government pick >> i'm not disputing that. i would just say, at this moment in this conflict nobody is governing. >> they are using their civilians as human shields. >> absolutely. absolutely. that's what i mean. this is correlated fully with israel. these monies will have rigorous oversight. it will be run through trusted partners. it is really directed at critical humanitarian assistance

. >> so when you say, in concert with israel, are the funds going to israel to administer? who is administering the funds? >> israel has made it clear that they do not want to be in the business of administrating -- administering anything in gaza. we have the oversight. we go through trusted partners. ngos. >> who are the trusted partners? >> i can get you a list of those, sir. >> in terms of iran, it is clear to many of us, including from reporting by the wall street journal, that he ron played some role in the lead up to these attacks. iran has continually backed and

funded hamas. the stated intention, ultimately , is to wipe israel off of the face of the earth. we all acknowledge that. do you believe that the administration is prepared to hold iran accountable? they would increase secondary sanctions on countries that purchase iranian petroleum. since joe biden took office since joe biden took office >> thank you for your question. we had made it clear that a

reigning fingerprints are all over the funding, arming, training, equipping, and directing a variety of nonstate actors from hamas toer lebanese hezbollah to the iran allied militia groups to the houthis in yemen. we do hope iran responsible accountable for the act of terrorism wheezing in the region. as recently as of this evening when president biden ordered precision strikes against irgc affiliated facilities in eastern syria. >> does the administration deny or confirm the "wall street journal" previous reporting about iran's involvement? in the october 7 terrorist attack. >> the administration has been very clear that iraq has had a role through its arming to try and cut and funding of hamas.

>> does the administration confirm or deny the reports of the "wall street journal" with respect to the october -- >> with respect to the article what assistant secretary also said earlier is that there is not a smoking gun piece of intelligence that confirms iran directed the specific nature, timing of the october 7 attack but there's no question that a man is responsible because of its arming coltrane, finding and equipment of -- >> given that and given your statement there, should the $6 billion in unfrozen funds be permanently refrozen? >> that would be a decision for senior level of the government, but at this point that $6 billion has not been touched and it is, the use of it is for humanitarian purposes only. >> i yield back. >> thank you very much.

and now secretary leaf and ms. stroul thank you so much for being here. i think you can see that you have bipartisan support of republicans, democrats here we want you to succeed. additionally, lightning constraint but i but i agh "washington post." we want the president to succeed. this is going to be his legacy. and we have an existential situation developing within access the people go with war criminal putin, the chinese communist party and indeed iran and iranian puppets and it must be addressed, , and want you to succeed. and so just understand it's for our families. and with potential as a "new york post" has reported of a potential terrorist attack here in the united states is imminent. what you doing is so important, and we want you to succeed.

additionally as we conclude i want to thank the staff. it's amazing their persistence to be here 24 hours a day seven days a week. and with this, we shall adjourn. >> thank you, congressman. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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