Dem Sen. Murphy: ‘Hamas Is Responsible’ for Civilian Deaths, But ‘Moral Cost’ of Israel’s Tactics ‘Too High’

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) stated that while “there’s no doubt that Hamas is responsible for these civilian casualties, because they hide themselves, their weapons, their infrastructure inside civilian buildings,” “Israel has to reconsider the way in which it balances its desire to go after and get Hamas and the damage being done to civilians. The moral cost is just too high, when 3,000 Palestinian children have died.”

Murphy said, “So, there’s no doubt Israel has the right to defend itself, and there’s no doubt that Hamas is responsible for these civilian casualties, because they hide themselves, their weapons, their infrastructure inside civilian buildings, mosques, schools, and hospitals. But Israel does have a responsibility to weigh the cost to civilians against the ability to target Hamas leaders. And I think when you are talking about 8,000 Palestinian civilians being killed, 3,000 children, there is no way but to come to the conclusion that the cost to civilians has been too high, and that Israel has to reconsider the way in which it balances its desire to go after and get Hamas and the damage being done to civilians. The moral cost is just too high, when 3,000 Palestinian children have died.”

He continued, “But the strategic cost is too high as well. Because, as we learned in Afghanistan, when you are too casual or too permissive about civilian casualties, that ends up being recruitment material for the very terrorist groups you are fighting. And so, for me, it was important today to say that we have reached a point at which the rate of civilian harm here is too high for Israel to sustain, for the world to sustain. And it’s time for them to change course and be much more targeted in their decisions about when they go after terrorists in civilian — heavy civilian population centers.”

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