DENOUNCING THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELDS BY

HAMAS AND OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW; AND CONDEMNING THE MURDER OF ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN CHILDREN IN ISRAEL AND THE ONGOING AND ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN THAT COUNTRY

MARKUP
BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON

H. Con. Res. 107 and H. Res. 665

JULY 25, 2014

Serial No. 113208

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

EDWARD R. ROYCE,
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas
MATT SALMON, Arizona
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
MO BROOKS, Alabama
TOM COTTON, Arkansas
PAUL COOK, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas
RON DESANTIS, Florida
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina
TED S. YOHO, Florida
SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin
CURT CLAWSON, Florida

California, Chairman
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
Samoa
BRAD SHERMAN, California
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
KAREN BASS, California
WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
JUAN VARGAS, California
BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts
AMI BERA, California
ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
GRACE MENG, New York
LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas

THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff
JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE

ON THE

MIDDLE EAST

AND

NORTH AFRICA

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
TOM COTTON, Arkansas
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas
ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
RON DESANTIS, Florida
JUAN VARGAS, California
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia
BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts
TED S. YOHO, Florida
GRACE MENG, New York
SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin
LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
CURT CLAWSON, Florida

(II)

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CONTENTS
Page

MARKUP OF
H. Con. Res. 107, Denouncing the use of civilians as human shields by
Hamas and other terrorist organizations in violation of international humanitarian law .....................................................................................................
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Con. Res. 107 offered
by the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Middle
East and North Africa ......................................................................................
H. Res. 665, Condemning the murder of Israeli and Palestinian children
in Israel and the ongoing and escalating violence in that country ..................

8
5

APPENDIX
Markup notice ..........................................................................................................
Markup minutes ......................................................................................................
Markup summary ....................................................................................................

22
23
24

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DENOUNCING THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELDS

BY HAMAS AND OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN
VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW; AND
CONDEMNING THE MURDER OF ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN CHILDREN IN ISRAEL AND THE ONGOING AND ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN THAT COUNTRY

FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA,
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:48 a.m., in room
2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. The subcommittee will come to order.
We meet today pursuant to notice to mark up two bipartisan
measures. As your offices were previously notified, it is the intent
of the Chair to consider the following items en bloc. And members
will have before them, you have in your packet, House Concurrent
Resolution 107, Denouncing the use of civilians as human shields
by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in violation of international humanitarian law; number two, House Resolution 665,
Condemning the murder of Israeli and Palestinian children in
Israel and the ongoing and escalating violence in that country; and
thirdly, Ros-Lehtinen amendment in nature of a substitute to
House Con. Resolution 107, which was provided to your offices yesterday.
Without objection, these items are considered as read. And will
be considered en bloc.
[The information referred to follows:]

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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. After I recognize myself and the ranking

member to speak on these measures, I will be glad to recognize
other members who also seek recognition.
Without objection, all members may have 5 days to submit statements for the record on todays business.
The Chair now recognizes herself for her opening statement.
Today we have before us two timely and important resolutions.
The first is House Concurrent Resolution 107, which I introduced
alongside with our ranking member, Congressman Ted Deutch of
Florida, that denounces the use of human shields by Hamas and
other terrorist organizations. The second is the House Resolution
665, authored by David McKinley of West Virginia and our Middle
East and North Africa Subcommittee colleague from California, Mr.
Juan Vargas. Their resolutions condemn last months murder of
the three Israeli teens, and Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali by members
of Hamas, and the murder of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu
Khedair by Israeli extremists and the escalation of violence.
It should be noted that while Israeli authorities move swiftly to
arrest three suspects in Mohammeds murder, Eyal, Gilad, and
Naftalis murderers are still roaming free, yet to be brought to justice.
But these measures are significant and their timing is not an accident. In light of the recent events that have transpired in Israel
and Gaza over the past month and a half, it is extremely vital that
the United States Congress serves as a counterweight to those who
seek to delegitimize Israel by pushing a false moral equivalency
measure. Make no mistake, there is no equivalency whatsoever between Israel and Hamas, a United States designated terrorist organization.
We need look no further than the mockery that is the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) to see the dangers of these
efforts to delegitimize Israel. Just 2 days ago, that council passed
a resolution to form a commission of inquiry into what it called war

12
crimes and human rights violations by Israel in Gaza. It should
come as no surprise to any of us of the one-sidedness of the
UNHCRand this is the same body that gave us the deeply flawed
and unabashedly biased anti-Israel Goldstone Report in 2009.
Yet remarkably, there was no mention of Hamas indiscriminate
rocket attacks on innocent Israeli civilian populations. But surely
firing rockets into Israel and placing missile batteries in denselypopulated areas and near schools, near hospitals, near mosques
would merit a mention? Or perhaps using men, women, and children as human shields to protect militants and their rockets would
draw the proper amount of outrage? No. Not a word.
But this has been the standard operating procedure of the
UNHCR. It has been an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel pro-terror group
for far too long. There must be some member nations on that body
that would have had the moral outrage that we in Congress feel
and that they would have voted against such a resolution. Alas, the
United States was the lone voice of reason. The only Nation willing
to say that we do not support this, that this is completely insane.
Where were our European allies? Those European countries that
always tell us how much more enlightened they are than us. Deafeningly silent. They couldnt even stand by the courage of their convictions and vote either for or against the measure. No. They all
abstained from voting. Perhaps thinking they took the moral high
ground. But theirs is the worst crime of all, their refusal to stand
up for what is right.
So here we are again, another UNHCR one-sided inquiry that
will do nothing but embolden Hamas because Hamas sees this and
it thinks that the world supports what it is doing.
I commend the U.S. Representative to the UNHCR for standing
up against the resolution this week. Ambassador Harper rightly
said that this vote will undermine achieving all of our objectives to
end the hostilities and bring peace to the troubled region and acknowledge that once again, the council fails to exhibit any semblance of balance.
If the council truly cared about human rights, it would condemn
Hamas use of human shields and its indiscriminate rocket attacks
against Israel. It would take a look at Hamas call for citizens to
ignore Israeli warnings to evacuate, or Hamas insistence that Palestinians stand on their roofs to prevent an attack, putting the citizens directly in harms way. And the council would call upon
Hamas to accept a ceasefire, which I believe it has now refused to
accept, at least three of the four of those attempts at a ceasefire,
while Israel has accepted each one of them.
It would launch an inquiry into Hamas and its supporters, like
supposedly our U.S. ally, Qatar. Not only is Qatar a major benefactor of Hamas, but it has also been working actively to undermine Egyptian and other Nations ceasefire efforts, further
embolding Hamas.
Qatar, the same question that we entrusted to watch over to the
Taliban 5 that has been supporting terrorists and radicals all
across the globe and offers them sanctuary. Qatar, the same country that we just signed an $11 billion arms deal with, $11 billion,
is the very same country that serves as Hamas mouthpiece

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13
through Al Jazeera, airing Hamas propaganda that then gets
broadcast to the world.
Perhaps that is something the UNHCR could look into. But it
wont, because it doesnt fit nicely into its agenda. And that is why
passing these two measures will send a strong message that we
will not allow Israels enemies to undermine the security of our
democratic ally or its legitimacy, but that we will continue to support Israel and do whatever is necessary to help it eliminate the
terrorist threat, be it Hamas or Hezbollah or any other group.
I urge my colleagues to support these measures before us today.
And now I will turn to our ranking member, Congressman
Deutch, for his remarks.
Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I want to thank you
for moving forward on these timely and important resolutions
today. And I extend my sincere gratitude to you for being a tremendous partner in our joint effort, House Concurrent Resolution 107,
denouncing Hamas use of civilians as human shields.
I want to recognize Mr. Vargas for his work on House Resolution
665, condemning the murder of Israeli and Palestinian children in
Israel and the ongoing escalation of violence.
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and I were in Israel the night the world
learned the tragic fate of the three Israeli teens, Eyal, Gilad, and
Naftali. We mourned with the families and the tens of thousands
of others at their joint funeral. And we were there just days later
when 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khedair was brutally and tragically murdered.
In the wake of these heartbreaking deaths, violence escalated as
Hamas began indiscriminately launching rockets to southern Israel
and then central Israel, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. Thanks to the
Iron Dome missile defense system, hundreds of thousands of Israeli
lives have been saved. Israel has the right to defend her people
against these attacks. And she cant be criticized for making the investments in Iron Dome to save her citizens while Hamas continues to invest in rockets aimed at killing Israeli citizens.
In the week since the start of Operation Protective Edge, Israel
has uncovered numerous plots by Hamas to infiltrate Israel via terror tunnels and to launch attacks on Israeli civilians. I ask you to
imagine what you would want your country to do if rockets were
raining down on your hometown. If tunnels were built under your
house, your childrens nursery, your grandfathers senior center for
the sole purpose of making it possible to pop up in those places and
slaughter the people who live there.
As President Obama said, no Nation should accept rockets being
fired into its border or terrorists tunneling into its territory.
Look, we all mourn the loss of innocent life to both sides of this
conflict. It is tragic. But it is Hamas, a U.S. and European Union
designated terrorist organization, terrorist army, that is embedding
its terrorist infrastructure in densely populated civilian areas.
As Israel makes every attempt to warn of incoming strikes via
phone calls, text messages, and leaflet drops, Hamas spokesmen go
on TV and encourage civilians to stay in their homes to act as
human shields. Hamas hides rockets in schools. In the past week,
rockets were found in two U.N. schools. It hides them in mosques.
There was a Washington Post report on July 17, when it witnessed

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14
a group of men in a mosque in northern Gaza seen moving small
rockets into the mosque.
Madam Chairman, I know that emotions run high on both sides
of this conflict. But there is no path that leads to peace and a Palestinian state living side by side with the Jewish State of Israel
that includes Hamas. The greatest impediment to peace for everyone who wants peace in the region, the greatest impediment to
peace between Israel and the Palestinians is Hamas, whose charter
is founded on the destruction of the State of Israel.
President Bill Clinton said in an interview this week, Hamas was
perfectly well aware of what would happen if they started raining
rockets in Israel. They fired 1,000 of them. And they have a strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own civilians so that the
rest of the world will condemn them.
It is Hamas that chose to invest money in underground bunkers
for its leaders and terror tunnels and rocket launchers instead of
investing in jobs and schools and healthcare for the people of Gaza.
The siege that people like to talk about in Gaza has been brought
about on the people of Gaza by Hamas. And it is Hamas that uses
its own people as human shields to protect these rocket launchers.
The use of civilians to protect military objectives is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. Look, this week, just this week, we
heard from a Hamas spokesman. If there is any question about
what is really happening here, we heard this statement. He said,
we will keep tormenting Zionists until the last Zionist leaves the
soil of Palestine, all of Palestine. Any calm is temporary, periodic
calm. We dont talk about a long-term peace agreement. Calm in
a resistance dictionary means preparation for the next war. The resistance will keep developing, manufacturing, and stocking its arsenals with new, surprising components for the next wars until the
Zionist enemy leaves our country and all our land.
That is the Hamas spokesman.
It is really simple, Madam Chairman. Any responsible Nation
that values human rights must condemn deplorable actions of
Hamas and other terrorist groups. And the U.N. vote this week?
Take a look at the 29 countries who voted to focus on Israel instead
of the country that is launching rockets and launching terror attacks. Tell me about the great concern that human rights that
Cuba and Venezuela have as they voted for that resolution.
Madam Chairman, I want to thank you for your commitment to
bringing these bills forward in a bipartisan manner. And I hope
that we have the opportunity as thisas this bill goes further to
further delve into what is a very simple and straightforward proposition. That if you believe in human rights, if you believe in democracy, then you must support Israels right to defend itself and you
must condemn Hamas.
And I yield back.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Deutch.
Now I am pleased to recognize in the order you came in, Mr.
Schneider of Illinois is recognized.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I am very
proud to join today and strongly rise to speak in support of both
House Concurrent Resolution 107, condemning Hamas use of

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15
human shields, and House Resolution 665, condemning the measured of the four young people last month.
Speaking first to the human shields. In the 90 years since Israel
withdrew completely from Gaza, evacuating 9,000 Israelis, Hamas
and other groups in Gaza have launched over 9,000 rockets. This
month alone, over 2,000 rockets intended to kill civilians and terrorize virtually every Israeli city, town, and village, have been
launched from Gaza.
Thankfully, Israel has developed, with the support of this U.S.
Congress and the American people, the Iron Dome defense system,
changing the calculus on the ground. Israel is doing all it can to
protect her citizens from Hamas rockets.
Conversely, Hamas is using the people of Gaza to protect the
rockets and rocket launchers.
I fully support Israels right to defend her citizens, to do what is
necessary to eliminate the threat of rockets and the threat of terror
tunnels dug under the ground into Israeli territory.
This resolution condemning the use of human shields, clearly a
violation of international humanitarian law, is a strong statement
that human shields cannot be used and Israel must be allowed to
defend herself. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas must be
prohibited from using rockets to terrorize Israel and human shields
to defend those rockets.
Let me also speak to the resolution condemning the callous murder of youths, whether it is boys Naftali, Gilad, or Eyal, or boys
named Mohammed.
The clear distinction is that after the murder of Mohammed,
Israel authorities quickly condemned the murder of the young man,
arrested, and are prosecuting the perpetrators. As I stated before,
the two murderers believed to have killed the three young Israelis
remain at large, and too many people are unwilling to condemn the
murder of Naftali, Gilad, and Eyal. We stand together in support
of the families. We standI stand in support of Israels right to defend herself, and I am proud to stand and support both of these
resolutions.
I yield back.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Schneider.
Mr. Chabot of Ohio is recognized.
Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to express
to my support for both resolutions being considered this morning,
H. Res. 665, Condemning the murder Israeli and Palestinian children and the ongoing and escalating violence in that country, and
H. Con. Res. 107, Denouncing the use of civilians at human shields
by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in violation of international humanitarian law.
I especially want to express my strong support for Israels right
to defend its territory from attacks by Hamas terrorists.
Since the start of Operation Protective Edge a little more than
2 weeks ago, more than 2,000 rockets have been launched against
Israel from Gaza, from Syria, from Lebanon, and from Sinai, endangering of the lives of some 6 million Israelis. Yet if we listened
to Hamas spokesmen, Hamas apologists in the news media, and in
the anti-Israeli cabal in the U.N., we would be led to believe that
Israel has been the aggressor. Meanwhile, Hamas exposes its own

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16
people to danger by launching strikes from civilian neighborhoods
near hospitals, near mosques, near schools. There were even published reports earlier this week of Hamas terrorists using ambulances as getaway cars.
This is a critical time in Israels history. And it is imperative
that we continue to stand beside our friend and ally. This subcommittee, by acting on these resolutions today, is sending a strong
message, I believe, both to Hamas and to Israel. And I urge support of this resolution.
And I want to thank you, Madam Chair, for ensuring that our
message will be heard.
I yield back.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Chabot.
Ms. Frankel of Florida is recognized.
Ms. FRANKEL. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to thank
my colleagues for bringing these resolutions and for their very eloquent remarks this morning. I support both resolutions.
Madam Chair, this week the United Nations found dozens of
Hamas rockets stored in two separate childrens schools in Gaza.
These rockets are identical to the rockets that Hamas uses to terrorize millions of Israelis. And this serves as a reminder of what
we already know. It is Hamas that is responsible for the terrible
loss of life both in Israel and Gaza. Hamas embeds its weapons and
launchers in schools in houses and mosques and hospitals. While
Israel uses Iron Dome rockets to protect its citizens, Hamas uses
citizens to protect its rockets. So we watch the news and we see
the heart-wrenching images from Gaza and Israel. Remember, it is
Hamas who is to bear the blame.
And I thank you, Madam Chair.
And I yield back.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, maam.
Mr. Cotton not of Arkansas is recognized.
Mr. COTTON. Hamas must be destroyed. The Gaza Strip is run
by a rats nest terrorist organization and has been for years. These
terrorists have no regard for human life. They commit double war
crimes every day by firing rockets and missiles and mortars at
Israeli citizens, which they cite at the homes and the mosques and
the hospitals and the churches of their civilians. They invade Israel
through tunnels, which must also be destroyed because they are
committing war crimes by wearing Israeli uniforms to kill Israeli
soldiers and Israeli citizens.
The Israeli defense force is the most moral humanitarian fighting
force in the world alongside with the Armed Forces of the United
States. And rather than try to pressure Israel in any way, the
United States should be standing by Israel along with so many
other Middle Eastern governments in their efforts to destroy
Hamas.
I am proud to support these resolutions, and I will reiterate that
Hamas must be destroyed.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Vargas of California is recognized.
Mr. VARGAS. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I want
to thank you for bringing these resolutions forward, and especially
for the bipartisan nature. You can see we all agree on these issues.

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17
Israel has the right and really the moral obligation to defend
itself. It cant sit idle as missiles rain down on their citizens. And
so it has acted. And it has acted in a way not only to defend itself,
but attempt to protect innocent life on both sides. Israeli soldiers
have died in this process protecting civilians in of the Gaza Strip.
And people should talk about that. I mean, this a very moral force
that is in Gaza. The Israelis have gone out of their way, not only
leafleting, but calling, letting people know, get out of the house.
Hamas has said, no. Bare your chest. Take those missiles on.
Hamas has purposely put in these human shields to try to up the
count of civilians that die. And so we have to stand strongly with
Israel at this moment. We always should. I am very proud of the
United States and the actions that it took at the United Nations
the other day. I am very proud of our government. We have to continue to stand by Israel in this moment.
And I also want to thank Israel for not only capturing the murderers of the young Palestinian who was murdered, Mohammed
Abu Khedair, 16 years old, but also condemning in the strongest
way the murder of any person. In Israel, these people that murdered him were called terrorists and murderers as they should. Yet
the murderers that killed the three Israeli teens are called heroes.
That I think is the big difference. They havent been captured.
They havent been condemned. Instead, they have been treated like
heroes, and they have been allowed to run around and been hidden
by the Palestinian authorities and others.
So I want to thank, again, Israel for not only condemning the
murder of the 16-year-old but also showing its moral courage and
going after them, the people who perpetrated the crime and saying,
these are the guys and, yes, they are part of our citizenry and, yes,
they are murderers. I wish the Palestinians would do the same
thing. And you dont see that.
So again, thank you very much for bringing this forward, Madam
Chair. I appreciate it very much, and I appreciate the bipartisan
nature. Thank you.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Vargas.
And always leaving the best for last, Mr. Connolly of Virginia.
Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And thank you
and the ranking member for bringing these two resolutions before
us.
Today we consider those two resolutions. First, H. Res. 665,
which condemns the murder of Israeli and Palestinian children and
the escalating violence in Israel.
The death that Mr. Vargas just referred to touched home in my
district. Mohammed Khedair is the cousin of one of my prominent
constituents. And that tragedy has touched our community, our
Palestinian community, particularly in Northern Virginia, very
hard.
But I echo the sentiments of Mr. Vargas. The sharp contrast between the fact that the Israeli justice system is prosecuting and
pursuing those who perpetrated that murder is in sharp contrast
to the absolute lack of a justice system and lack of any even semblance of adjudication and prosecution for the murder of three
Israeli young people is for all the world to see.

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The sound of sirens in Israeli cities warning of rockets overhead
and images of the growing humanitarian crisis now in Gaza should
strengthen, it seems to me, our resolve to end this current conflict
and to resume our pursuit for a more lasting peace in Israel and
Palestine. Our lesson from the crisis in Israel is that violence begets violence. Hamas continues to indiscriminately fire rockets into
Israel, threatening the lives of Israeli citizens. Just as any sovereign Nation would, Israel has taken measures to protect its civilians from harm by targeting Hamas operations in Gaza.
Unfortunately, the scene in Gaza is not unfamiliar. A brutal terrorist organization with wanton disregard for human life has embedded itself in a civilian population, and it uses that civilian population as a shield. The result is a humanitarian crisis that worsens
by the day. We should, it seems to me, do all we can to arrest this
endless cycle before more innocent lives are lost and the gulf between Israelis and Palestinians only widens it further.
I commend Secretary Kerry for his commitment to the peace
process and for trying to bring both sides to the negotiating table.
It is in the best interest of Israelis, the Palestinians, and all those
who seek regional stability in negotiations for peace must resume.
Hamas has now fired over 2,000 rockets into Israel proper since
June. The rockets are poorly guided, and Hamas makes no distinction regarding its targets. Flights out of Israels Ben Gurion Airport were recently disrupted when a rocket detonated near that
airport. Given this constant threat from above, Israel has taken
measures to mitigate risks to its civilian population.
The Iron Dome system has had an 86-percent success rate in
intercepting missiles destined for Israeli population targets. Consistent with the United States close relationship with Israel and
our commitment to its self defense, we have provided $1 billion toward the development of that successful system. This doesnt even
include the $351 million that was included in the Fiscal Year 2015
National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House in June.
Israeli defense forces have also launched Operation Protective
Edge, sending ground troops into the Gaza to disrupt Hamas rocket capability and to shut down tunnels that have been used for terrorism.
Because Hamas has intermingled its military operations with civilian populations as part of its strategy to evade discovery and engagement by the IDF, there have been civilian casualties, far too
many, in Gaza along with the worsening humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees discovered
itself Hamas rockets in a school next to a shelter for 3,000 Palestinian residents. Civilians are caught in the crosshairs of this conflict, subjected to violence, and cut off from resources or any semblance of normal life.
It is with this in mind that I hope all of us will urge an expedited
return to the negotiating table. For those who once criticized Secretary Kerrys attempts at reviving the peace process, what is the
alternative? It is a region embroiled in endless conflict and misery,
and a fate none of us want to find acceptable for the Middle East.
Thank you again for your leadership, Madam Chairman, and
that of yours, Mr. Deutch, and I certainly look forward to voting
for these resolutions today.

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Thank you very much.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Connolly.
Hearing no further requests for recognition, the question occurs
on adopting the items under consideration en bloc.
All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, no.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it and the en bloc
amendments are approved.
Without objection, the items in the en bloc will be reported favorably to the full committee, and House Concurrent Resolution 107
will be reported in the form of a single amendment in the nature
of a substitute.
The staff is directed to make any technical and conforming
changes.
I want to thank all of the members and staff for their assistance
and cooperation that went into todays markup. I thank you for
coming.
And with that, the subcommittee is adjourned. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 10:17 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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APPENDIX

MATERIAL SUBMITTED

FOR THE

RECORD

(21)

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