Netanyahu defends Israel’s war with Hamas, gets boycotted by lawmakers during address to U.S. Congress

07/28/2024 / By Belle Carter

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States came amid various heavy global issues. At the moment, the toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza is nearly 40,000. It’s also in a week when new deaths were reported among the surviving hostages, who include Israelis, Americans and other nationalities. Also, U.S. presidential elections are just around the corner.

The Israeli leader addressed the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, not only polarizing the already heavily contending political parties, but he also raised false claims about his country’s war on Gaza. Former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said that his speech was the “worst” by a foreign dignitary in Congress’s history, as they were filled with false statements.

In his speech, he rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusation that his troops were not allowing deliveries of humanitarian aid. He said that Israel has facilitated the entry of over 40,000 aid trucks into the strip. “If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking it. It’s because Hamas is stealing it,” he claimed.

But the Middle East Eye debunked his claim saying that the United Nations had 28,018 aid trucks that entered the strip since Oct. but since Israeli forces seized the Rafah crossing in May, one of the few routes in and out of Gaza, only 2,835 trucks were able to enter the Palestinian enclave. In March, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), projected that Gaza may experience famine by May. Another report published in June found that half a million Palestinians are already suffering starvation.

Netanyahu also claimed that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have done their best to make sure Palestinian civilians are safe. He added that they gave out “millions of flyers, sent millions of text messages, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls to get Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way.” The news outlet disagreed citing IDF’s bombing of Khan Younis, which was a previously designated humanitarian area that sheltered 400,000 Palestinians, just minutes after it issued an evacuation order on July 22. The UN also assessed six Israeli attacks that caused a high number of fatalities and concluded that Israeli forces had consistently failed to minimize civilian harm in June. According to UN and Ministry of Health data, the majority of the 39,000 confirmed deaths are civilians.

The Israel leader also said that Hamas “burned babies alive” during its initial assault on Oct. 7, recounting a story implying that Hamas fighters murdered two babies who were hidden in the attic of a family home. He even previously told U.S. President Joe Biden that Palestinians “bound dozens of children” together, burned and executed them. However, there is no available evidence to suggest that groups of children were found dead in the same location that match the description provided by Netanyahu, according to Haaretz.

Meanwhile, roughly half of lawmakers skipped the speech as around 100 House Democrats and 28 Senate Democrats were present in the chamber. Among the boycotters were Pelosi (D-Ca), former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Isolationist Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) said he was not attending, saying he didn’t want to be a “prop” for Netanyahu, Axios reported.

The latest boycott was significantly larger than the 58 Democrats who skipped Netanyahu’s 2015 speech.

Netanyahu’s visit sparks massive protests in Washington

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters gathered in Washington on Wednesday to condemn Netanyahu’s visit.

They were calling for the end of the war in Gaza that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. The demonstrators were chanting “Free, free Palestine” as they marched toward the Capitol carrying Palestinian flags and signs with messages such as “arrest Netanyahu” and “end all U.S. aid to Israel.” (Related: ‘Responsible for a genocide’: Jewish-American groups reject Netanyahu visit to U.S.)

The police blocked them from getting close to the Capitol. Police said they used pepper spray after some protesters became “violent” and “failed to obey” orders to move back from the police line.

Before Netanyahu’s speech, some protesters also tried to block his route to the Capitol but were removed from the street by police. After being turned away by officers near the Capitol, protesters wound through the Capitol Hill neighborhood for several blocks before gathering in front of the nearby rail station.

Outside Washington’s Union Station, protesters removed American flags and hoisted Palestinian ones in their place. “Bibi, Bibi, We’re not done! The intifada has just begun!” they shouted, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. “Netanyahu, you can’t hide. You’re committing genocide,” other protesters shouted.

Meanwhile, following his polarizing speech, Netanyahu met with Biden where the two discussed the possibility of ending the war. The Biden administration reportedly tried to pressure Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire deal during the meeting. Instead, Israel seems to have issued new demands in the negotiations for an agreement to secure the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a halt in the war.

“We feel that we’ve got to get this hostage deal in place so we can get a ceasefire also in place,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said during a press briefing as the two world leaders met. He acknowledged that there were issues that still need to be resolved that would require compromise from both Israel and Hamas, but added: “We are close, we just have to finish it.”

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