[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 537 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 537

   Reaffirming support for Israel's right to defend its citizens and 
  ensure the survival of the State of Israel, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2014

   Mr. Graham (for himself and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Reaffirming support for Israel's right to defend its citizens and 
  ensure the survival of the State of Israel, and for other purposes.

Whereas, on July 17, 2014, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting 
        Israel's right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the 
        State of Israel, condemning the actions of Hamas, and calling for the 
        President of the Palestinian Authority to dissolve the unity government 
        arrangement with Hamas;
Whereas, on July 29, 2014, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution condemning 
        Hamas's terrorist actions and use of civilians as human shields and 
        condemning the United Nations Human Rights Council's resolution of July 
        23, 2014;
Whereas, since June 2014, Hamas has fired over 2,500 rockets at Israel;
Whereas Hamas has used a system of tunnels to smuggle weapons and launch attacks 
        on Israel;
Whereas 5,000,000 innocent Israeli civilians are currently living under the 
        threat of indiscriminant rocket attacks from Gaza;
Whereas, since ground operations in Gaza began, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) 
        have discovered more than 30 tunnels to only provide access to Israeli 
        territory to attack and kidnap Israelis;
Whereas Israel has accepted and implemented numerous ceasefire agreements that 
        Hamas has rejected;
Whereas, on July 26, 2014, Hamas continued to fire rockets into Israel during a 
        24-hour truce that Hamas had itself proposed;
Whereas Israel embraced the Egyptian-proposed ceasefire agreement, which Hamas 
        resoundingly rejected on July 27, 2014;
Whereas, on August 1, 2014, 90 minutes into a humanitarian ceasefire, Hamas 
        violated a ceasefire to use one of these tunnels to conduct a suicide 
        attack, killing two Israeli soldiers and kidnapping 2nd Lt. Hadar 
        Goldin, an IDF soldier;
Whereas Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas's constant barrage of 
        rockets and to destroy the matrix of tunnels Hamas uses to smuggle 
        weapons and Hamas fighters into Israel to carry out terrorist attacks;
Whereas the Government of Israel has taken significant steps to protect 
        civilians in Gaza, including dropping leaflets in Gaza neighborhoods in 
        advance of Israeli military attacks, calling Palestinians on the phone 
        urging them to evacuate certain areas before the military strikes 
        targets, and issuing warnings to civilians in advance of firing on 
        buildings;
Whereas Hamas uses civilians in Gaza as human shields by placing missile 
        launchers next to schools, hospitals, mosques, and private homes;
Whereas Hamas' interior ministry has called on residents of Gaza to ignore IDF 
        warnings to get out of harm's way; and
Whereas any effort to broker a ceasefire agreement that does not eliminate those 
        threats cannot be sustained in the long run and will leave Israel 
        vulnerable to future attacks: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms its support for Israel's right to defend its 
        citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel;
            (2) condemns Hamas' repeated violation of humanitarian 
        cease fires and its use of suicide bombings;
            (3) demands Hamas return the IDF soldier kidnapped on 
        August 1, 2014;
            (4) calls on the United Nations Secretary General to 
        immediately condemn all terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel;
            (5) reiterates its call on Hamas to stop using residents of 
        Gaza as human shields;
            (6) urges the international community to condemn the 
        unprovoked rocket fire at Israel;
            (7) calls on the Palestinian people to reject Hamas and its 
        hateful ideology and to seek peace; and
            (8) recognizes that the Government of Israel must be 
        allowed to take actions necessary to remove the present and 
        future threats posed by Hamas' rockets and tunnels and supports 
        the Government of Israel's efforts to deal with the threats 
        posed by Hamas rockets and tunnels.
                                 <all>