(PatriotSpotlight.org) – Speaking to Fox News’s “Special Report” program on Wednesday, April 11th, Democrat Senator Joe Manchin expressed his concerns over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Manchin stressed the tough humanitarian situation in Gaza, a Palestinian territory, and pointed out Hamas’s misuse of global aid as a key factor in reduced quality of life.
Manchin said it was unreasonable to expect Israel to permit Hamas to reload with zero concessions. He also said it was unjust to pressure Israel, or any nation that had experienced an attack, to stand down without receiving any benefits for doing so. Manchin also urged Hamas to return hostages kidnapped from Israel as a requirement for negotiations.
The senator also explained his perspective that there were key differences in military conflict with a terror group like Hamas, as opposed to a sovereign nation. He said that while organized states generally adhered to rules of war in order to preserve their own civilians’ lives, terror groups deliberately put innocent citizens under its rule in harm’s way, such as by using them as human shields. Manchin also accused Hamas of deliberately depriving Palestinians of crucial aid, such as food and medicines, by funneling resources into its own military efforts. He complained that Hamas’s decisions have reduced Gazans’ access to basic necessities, underpinning the need for international aid groups to directly access civilians in need.
The show’s host Bret Baier remarked that Hamas had already rejected the most recent cease-fire deal, putting up yet further barriers to peace. Since the beginning of the current conflict phase on October 7th 2023, when Hamas led a brutal attack in Southern Israel which left over 1000 Israelis, including children, dead, Gaza has received more aid trucks than the pre-war average. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2006, and Gaza has been under Hamas rule since 2007 when the terror group-which calls for the total destruction of Israel- won elections run by the Palestinian Authority, and violently expelled their key rivals, Fatah.
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