On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Biden Campaign Co-Chair Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) noted that Hamas has rejected offers from Israel for a hostage release with a prisoner exchange and ceasefire, but “the ongoing war in Gaza is going to continue to test and strain relations between the United States and Israel, and I am optimistic that the IDF will ultimately listen to the concerns expressed by many of us in Congress as well as by our president.”
Coons said, “I do have concerns about the IDF, were they to go into Rafah at scale and make no accommodation for civilians. I do want to highlight that, in this package the president has just signed, is $9 billion in humanitarian relief. That’s critical for preventing famine in Gaza, as well as for dealing with the emerging famine in Sudan, providing humanitarian assistance in Ukraine and a dozen other countries around the world where there is a humanitarian crisis today of remarkable scale, hundreds of millions of people facing hunger or starvation. I do think that the ongoing war in Gaza is going to continue to test and strain relations between the United States and Israel, and I am optimistic that the IDF will ultimately listen to the concerns expressed by many of us in Congress as well as by our president.”
Later, he added, “The Israeli government did come further forward in the offer that they made to Hamas in recent negotiations, and the Qataris, who host the political leadership of Hamas…have expressed deep frustration that Hamas did not accept the latest offer of a hostage for prisoner exchange and ceasefire. The most important thing that could happen in the next couple of days before any assault on Rafah would be the release of hostages by Hamas and a ceasefire as a result, that would allow for more humanitarian aid to be distributed in Gaza.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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