'Not Israel's fault,' says GOP senator of humanitarian crisis

(JNS) — In a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, objected to a proposal by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) seeking to end the war against Hamas and the blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying the resolution doesn’t focus on who is to blame for the conflict in the first place.

“We have no disagreement about the suffering that’s going on in Gaza,” he said, regarding the Palestinian population there. “The problem we have here is, as we heard from both of these speakers, not one word was said as to whose fault this is. This is the fault of a group of people. And that group of people is Hamas.” 

Risch rejected claims that the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza is the fault of Israel and the United States.

“I’ve heard them,” he said, referring to colleagues in the U.S. Senate, “mention Israel several times. This is not Israel’s fault. I heard them mention us, the United States. This is not our fault.”

“It is totally in the hands of Hamas,” he said, adding that “not one more bullet would be fired” if Hamas operatives released the estimated 58 hostages they have held in captivity since the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and laid down their weapons.

Risch also said it “doesn’t matter” if the United States sends aid while Hamas is still in power because the terror group steals it for its fighters, leaving women and children to suffer.

In 2024, Welch, the senator who sponsored the resolution, urged the Biden administration to stop military aid to Israel, arguing that the Jewish state had “met its objectives” in Gaza.