Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested inside a congressional office building and thousands shut down Independence Avenue on Capitol Hill as Senators received a classified briefing on Israel on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The protestors chanted “ceasefire now” and wore shirts that read “Jews say ceasefire”.
Lawmakers couldn’t say much about what they learned in the briefing because of its classified nature, but here’s what they were able to share:
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on supplemental funding:
“I asked Secretary Austin when he needs funding for our ongoing efforts. His answer was crystal clear – yesterday. The Senate will not wait. We must act quickly. We hope nobody tries to slow this desperately needed aid down.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-F.L., on potential for escalation:
“I think that there’s a significant, I wouldn’t put a number on it, but a pretty significant chance that this develops into a multi-front conflict, even if neither side wants it. There could be miscalculation, meaning, some strike that one side thought was limited ended up killing more people than they anticipated. The other side has to respond equally, and now you’re off to the races.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., on Iran aiding Hamas:
“The relationship between Iran and Hamas is obvious. It’s lasted more than a decade. Hamas doesn’t have the resources to have the type of weapon systems that they’ve been using, or the training to use them, without somebody like Iran.”
Reporter: “How are you feeling about the hostage recovery efforts after that briefing? Did you learn anything new? Are you confident we’re doing all we can in that respect?”
Cramer: “I am. And I’ll leave it at that.”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on the hospital strike in Gaza:
“I can say firsthand, having reviewed the intelligence, it is my firm assumption that Israel was not responsible for the awful destruction of the hospital in Gaza. I think it is very important that the Intelligence Committee and others lean forward as much as possible to bring that evidence to light since there are clearly protests, not only in the West Bank, but around the world. These images are horrible.”
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