[Page S3242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  Gaza

  Mr. President, on a different topic, I want to say a few words about 
the tragic war in Gaza. There has been so much suffering, so much 
death, so much destruction.
  The Hamas attacks on Israel of October 7, 2023 and the taking of 
hostages, with some 20 or 30 still left in captivity, left a stunned 
and grieving Israel with a difficult decision. From the start, I urged 
Israel to learn from our mistakes in the United States that we made in 
anger after the terrible attacks of September 11. We shouldn't make 
these life-and-death decisions, we have learned, in the fury of 
emotion. But I fear that lesson was not followed, and the near total 
destruction of Gaza and humanitarian suffering will be seen as terrible 
mistakes--mistakes that will cause generations of pain and will hurt 
Israel's ultimate relationship with its allies in the future.
  Late last year, after more than a year of horror on this small strip 
of land, I thought we were finally seeing some progress toward the 
release of the remaining hostages, a long-term ceasefire, and an easing 
of the humanitarian crisis. There have also been growing public 
demonstrations from Gazans who are bravely protesting for an end to the 
rule of Hamas. That is good news. These protesters face serious threats 
and risk of arrest by Hamas, but they still do so, knowing Hamas has to 
go and does not have the people's real interests at heart in Gaza.
  But instead of building on these modest but important openings, 
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to put his own political 
survival ahead of everything. Instead of a more surgical response to 
Hamas or offering a long-term vision for Gaza under reformed 
Palestinian leadership, Netanyahu has offered nothing. He has blocked 
all aid to Gaza for 3 months, with experts warning of mass starvation, 
and he has restarted the fighting with no short- or long-term strategy. 
The only strategy is to keep his coalition in Israel intact. Netanyahu 
knows his coalition won't stand for any kind of two-state solution, so 
he avoids this viable path, instead threatening untold innocent lives 
by blocking and undermining aid delivery and restarting a dubious 
military offensive.
  Key allies and the new Pope, Pope Leo, continue to make appeals to 
allow aid to flow into Gaza before the famine and starvation take hold 
completely.
  Just the other day, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said:

       The government of Israel is currently waging a war without 
     purpose, without goals or clear planning and with no chances 
     of success.

  Those are the words of former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert.
  I implore our Israeli allies to pursue a cease-fire that sees the 
release of all remaining hostages, allows sufficient aid to flow, and 
advances a serious postwar vision for two states.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). The Senator from Oregon.