Dem senator admonishes Israel over ‘unacceptable’ Gaza civilian death, urges immediate strategy change
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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., took to social media Thursday to admonish Israel for what he called an “unacceptable and unsustainable” rate of civilian death amid its ongoing invasion of Gaza, and urged the country to “immediately reconsider its approach” to destroying Hamas.
“It’s time for Israel’s friends to recognize that the current approach is causing an unacceptable level of civilian harm and does not appear likely to achieve the goal of ending the threat from Hamas,” Murphy said in a lengthy statement posted on X.
“As we have learned from America’s own counterterrorism campaigns, disproportionately large numbers of civilian casualties come with a moral cost, but also a strategic cost, as terrorism groups feed off of the grievances caused by civilian harm,” he said.
Murphy emphasized that Israel has a right to defend itself following the devastating Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas that resulted in the murder of more than 1,300 civilians, including children and babies, but said it had “not struck the right balance between military necessity and proportionality.”
“The current rate of civilian death inside Gaza is unacceptable and unsustainable. I urge Israel to immediately reconsider its approach and shift to a more deliberate and proportionate counterterrorism campaign, surgically targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and terrorism infrastructure while more highly prioritizing the safety of civilians in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” he added.
Murphy’s statement came just hours after his colleague, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined other far-left members of the party in calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
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Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, told CNN host Poppy Harlow he believes there should be a cease-fire between the Jewish state and the terror group on the condition that Hamas releases all the hostages it took from Israel in their Oct. 7 attack.
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Fox News’ Gabriel Hayes contributed to this report.