109 HRES 923 IH: Condemning the recent attacks against the U.S. House of Representatives 2006-07-18 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 109th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 923 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 18, 2006 Mr. Shaw submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations RESOLUTION Condemning the recent attacks against the State of Israel.

Whereas on July 12, 2006, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah crossed the border and carried out assaults on northern Israel; Whereas this attack killed eight soldiers and took two others hostage; Whereas the kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers symbolizes a clear act of war by Hezbollah, which the Government of Lebanon has failed to take apart and has included into its cabinet; Whereas Hezbollah’s continued violence against Israel, regardless of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, is financed and supported by Syria and Iran; Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated, “Hezbollah’s actions undermine regional stability and go against the interests of both the Israeli and Lebanese people.”; Whereas this latest attack by Hezbollah has forced Israel to launch operations to ensure the release of its kidnapped soldiers, damage Hezbollah’s rocket capabilities, and prevent further attacks against the State of Israel; Whereas the kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah represents a clear act of war; Whereas Hezbollah’s killing of eight Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of two others represents an unprovoked act of war against Israel; Whereas four of the eight soldiers killed on July 12, 2006, were patrolling the Lebanese border: Sergeant Nimrod Cohen, Sergeant-Major Eyal Benin, Sergeant-Major Shani Turgeman, and Sergeant-Major Wasim Nazel; Whereas in May 2000, Israel fully withdrew from southern Lebanon as a step toward peace in the Middle East; Whereas Israel was qualified by the United Nations Security Council as having met the requirements of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 (1978), which called for an Israeli withdrawal and for Lebanon to assert control over the area vacated by Israel; Whereas Hezbollah has launched dozens of unprovoked attacks against the State of Israel since the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, including the firing of hundreds of rockets and mortars into residential areas; Whereas since the beginning of 2006, the Hezbollah has carried out at least four major attacks into Israel using rockets and ground forces in an attempt to kidnap Israelis; Whereas Hezbollah currently has 14,000 Iranian- and Syrian-supplied rockets which are competent of hitting Israeli cities and towns within the northern third of the country; Whereas these munitions are capable of inflicting significant destruction and are a major threat to the people of Israel; Whereas like the United States and other sovereign nations, Israel has the right and duty to defend itself from attacks, the killing and kidnapping of its soldiers, and the bombings in civilian areas; Whereas Israel’s complete withdrawal from southern Lebanon was carried out as an act of peace and goodwill; Whereas since the withdrawal, Hezbollah has carried out numerous unprovoked attacks against Israel, forcing them to take strong action to prevent additional attacks against its people; Whereas Israel’s military response is being carefully adjusted to successfully carry out any rescue attempt to obtain the kidnapped soldiers and to corrupt the rocket capabilities of Hezbollah; Whereas Hezbollah is subsidized by Syria and Iran and provides this terrorist organization with a projected $100,000,000 in funding per year; Whereas Hezbollah receives a large amount of weapons, such as Katyusha rockets, mortars, anti-tank missiles, mines, explosives and small arms; Whereas Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other terrorist group with the exception of al-Qaeda; Whereas Hezbollah killed 257 Americans in the 1983 bombings of the United States Embassy and United States Marine barracks in Beirut and killed 19 American servicemen in the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, a United States military housing facility in Saudi Arabia; Whereas Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, which has also kidnapped an Israeli soldier in June 2006, praised Hezbollah’s attack, calling it a “heroic operation”; Whereas many of the top leaders of Hamas have regularly advocated for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers; Whereas Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said in March 2006, that like Hezbollah, Hamas will hunt for Israeli soldiers and trade them for Palestinians who are held in Israeli jails; Whereas on January 25, 2006, the Palestinian Authority permitted Hamas to participate in its elections; Whereas Hamas won the majority of the parliamentary seats and now dominates the Palestinian people; Whereas Hamas has the ability to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and to end the continuing rocket fire into Israel; Whereas the Palestinian Authority had the opportunity for political reform by promoting democracy, civil society, and good governance in the Middle East; however, Hamas will not change its views on Israel; Whereas on June 25, 2006, members of the Hamas military branch (Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades), the Popular Resistance Committees, assaulted Israeli forces in Israel, killing two Israeli soldiers, wounding four, and kidnapping one; Whereas the United States and Israel hold the Palestinian Authority and its Hamas-led government responsible for the attack and the outcome of the one kidnapped soldier; Whereas on June 27, 2006, after ineffective diplomatic efforts to secure the kidnapped soldier’s release, Israel forces began the process to rescue him, to prevent future Hamas attacks, including rocket launches from Gaza into southern Israel, and to weaken the Hamas-led government; Whereas Israeli officials state that Hamas had crossed a red line with the kidnapping; Whereas Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stressed that Israel had no intentions of returning to Gaza; Whereas Israeli forces destroyed most of Gaza’s electrical supply and bridges so kidnappers could not move their victim; Whereas on June 28, 2006, political leaders of Hamas reiterated the demands of the kidnappers; Israeli spokespeople replied by insisting on the release of the Israeli soldier; Whereas on June 28, 2006, Hamas’ Popular Resistance Committees announced that they had kidnapped a young West Bank settler and threatened to kill him if Israel did not stop the Gaza operation; his body was found the next day; Whereas Israeli forces arrested three alleged perpetrators of this attack from the Fatah movement on July 4, 2006, in Ramallah; Whereas a dangerous situation of escalating violence continues to spread out around Gaza and is now taking on a regional dimension; Whereas a series of Israeli-Palestinian disagreements over the last several weeks arose with the kidnapping of Israeli solder Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants and the forceful Israeli military response that included destruction of civilian infrastructure; Whereas it is apparent that neither Israel nor the Palestinians are able to work together and the violence is only getting worse; Whereas if a diplomatic solution is to be found and hope for peace is to be reinstated, leadership from the United States is crucial; and Whereas even in the most difficult of times, the path toward cooperation, dialogue, and negotiations must be tirelessly pursued; a two-state solution with a secure Israel and a viable Palestinian state still remains the only way forward: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)condemns, in the strongest terms, Hezbollah’s despicable and shameful attacks against the State of Israel, and demands that Hezbollah renounce the attacks; (2)calls on the United Nations Security Council and all civilized nations to condemn and reject any policies aimed at destroying Israel; (3)further calls on the United Nations Security Council and all civilized nations to consider measures to deny Hezbollah and any nations or organization the means to carry out its threats against Israel; and (4)reaffirms the unwavering alliance between the United States and Israel and reasserts the commitment of the United States to defend the right of Israel to exist as a free and democratic state.