    [House Hearing, 118 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                 THE FISCAL YEAR 2025 BUDGET REQUEST FOR
                            NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS
    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST, NORTH
                            AFRICA, AND CENTRAL ASIA

                                     OF THE

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                         U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                                  May 23, 2024

                                   __________

                               Serial No. 118-107

                                   __________

            Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov, http://docs.house.gov,
                           or http://www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    56-741PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2026
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                       MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Chairman

    CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey     	GREGORY MEEKS, New York, Ranking
    JOE WILSON, South Carolina               Member
    SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania		BRAD SHERMAN, California
    DARRELL ISSA, California		GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
    ANN WAGNER, Missouri			WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
    BRIAN MAST, Florida			GABE AMO, Rhode Island
    KEN BUCK, Colorado			AMI BERA, California
    TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee			JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
    MARK E. GREEN, Tennessee		DINA TITUS, Nevada
    ANDY BARR, Kentucky			TED LIEU, California
    RONNY JACKSON, Texas			SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania
    YOUNG KIM, California			DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota
    MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR, Florida		COLIN ALLRED, Texas
    BILL HUIZENGA, Michigan			ANDY KIM, New Jersey
    AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, 		SARA JACOBS, California
        American Samoa			KATHY MANNING, North Carolina
    FRENCH HILL, Arkansas			SHEILA CHERFILUS-McCORMICK,
    WARREN DAVIDSON, Ohio			      Florida
    JIM BAIRD, Indiana			GREG STANTON, Arizona
    MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida			MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
    THOMAS KEAN, Jr., New Jersey		JARED MOSKOWITZ, Florida
    MICHAEL LAWLER, New York		JONATHAN JACKSON, Illinois
    CORY MILLS, Florida			SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE, California
    RICH McCORMICK, Georgia			JIM COSTA, California
    NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas			JASON CROW, Colorado
    JOHN JAMES, Michigan			BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois
    KEITH SELF, Texas

                    Brenda Shields, Majority Staff Director
                    Sophia Lafargue, Minority Staff Director
                                     ------

        SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA, AND CENTRAL ASIA

                      JOE WILSON, South Carolina, Chairman
    BRIAN MAST, Florida                  DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota, Ranking
    TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee                  Member
    RONNY JACKSON, Texas                 BRAD SHERMAN, California
    JIM BAIRD, Indiana                   GERALD CONNOLLY, Virginia
    MICHAEL LAWLER, New York             KATHY MANNING, North Carolina
    RICH MCCORMICK, Georgia              GABRIEL AMO, Rhode Island

                   Gabriella Zach Subcommittee Staff Director

                             C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                                  ----------

                                REPRESENTATIVES

                                                                       Page
    Opening Statement of Subcommittee Chairman Joe Wilson............     1
    Opening Statement of Subcommittee Ranking Member Dean Phillips...     3

                                   WITNESSES

    Statement of Hon. Barbara A. Leaf, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of
      Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State.................     5
      Prepared Statement.............................................     8
    Statement of Jeanne Pryor, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Middle
      East Bureau, U.S. Agency for International Development.........    16
      Prepared Statement.............................................    18

                                    APPENDIX

    Hearing Notice...................................................    48
    Hearing Minutes..................................................    50
    Hearing Attendance...............................................    51

                            Materials for the Record

    Material for the record, Tower Attack 22 Jordan..................    52

          THE FISCAL YEAR 2025 BUDGET REQUEST FOR NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS

                                  ----------

                             Thursday, May 23, 2024

                      House of Representatives,
     Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and
                                          Central Asia,
                                  Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                                        Washington, DC.

        The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:37 a.m., in
    room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Joe Wilson
    (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
        Mr. Wilson. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome and good morning.
    The subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central
    Asia of the Foreign Affairs Committee will come to order. The
    audience is reminded that any disruptions will result upon a
    gavel of the suspension of anyone who disrupts the meeting, and
    the Capitol Police will remove anyone who disrupts the meeting.
        With that in mind, the purpose of the hearing is to discuss
    the President's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for this State
    Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and USAID which we
    all appreciate both bipartisan. With this in mind, I now
    recognize myself for an opening statement.

         OPENING STATEMENT OF SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMAN JOE WILSON

        The last few years have seen monumental events and shifts
    in the Middle East and North Africa. The historic Abraham
    Accords were a tremendous accomplishment by the Trump
    administration toward a stable and prosperous Middle East. With
    our allies and partners, there was tremendous progress toward
    normalization and extraordinary prosperity. Those partnerships
    have never been more critical.
        On October 7th, 2023, the world watched as Iranian
    terrorist puppet Hamas murderously slaughtered Israeli
    citizens. Hamas perpetrated the largest single attack on the
    Jewish people since the Holocaust. War Criminal Putin, the
    Chinese Communist Party, and the terrorist regime in Tehran
    have escalated their common goals, the destruction of democracy
    around the world.
        This new axis of evil has worked to undermine global
    security by stealing critical natural resources, disrupting
    global supply chains. And as we've seen by the Houthi attacks
    of shipping lanes, they face sadly minimal consequences. Yet
    this administration has not shown the necessary leadership to
    get the world through the crisis, much less reestablish
    deterrence which is so critical of our adversaries.
        Sadly, the President pausing at least one and threatening
    to delay more critical weapons shipments to Israel is a sad
    example. Instead of insuring Israel has the tools it needs to
    eliminate the threat of the Hamas terrorist, this
    administration prioritized the construction of an unnecessary
    pier in Gaza that according to the Department of Defense isn't
    even helping aid the people in need. America needs a clear and
    consistent policy from the United States to counter the Iranian
    backed terrorist puppets in their proliferation of missiles and
    weaponized drones.
        This policy must include strengthening regional air and
    maritime defense cooperation and fulfilling arms sales with
    related security agreements without delay to ensure our
    partners' and allies' security needs are fully met. The
    intentions of Hamas are extremely clear. They made it very
    clear in the goals of their charter of August 18, 1988.
        And I quote Article 7, ``The day of judgment will not come
    until the Muslims fight the Jews, killing the Jews. Then the
    Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees
    will result into the last Jew behind a rock. Come and kill
    him,'' end of quote.
        This administration has led countries across the region to
    question America's longtime commitments to the region. The
    United States leadership vacuum was publicly underscored by the
    recent murder of three American troops, Sergeant William Jerome
    Rivers, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, and Specialist Riona
    Alexandra Moffet. When the Iranian puppet Hezbollah killed
    American citizens, sadly the administration chose to
    halfheartedly, if at all, to respond.
        And I particularly identify these were Army Reservists from
    my neighboring State of Georgia. And I served in the Reserve
    myself. It's just horrifying to think that three persons were
    killed by Hezbollah and 40 others were injured.
        The American people deserve better than this when we
    continue the pattern of the administration. And just this week,
    I was grateful to have a phone call with a very dedicated and
    dynamic family of the late Dr. Majd Kamalmaz. Dr. Kamalmaz was
    an American psychologist who was murdered by the criminal Assad
    regime in Syria after being kidnaped by the regime in 2017.
        This administration has not made any statement of
    condolence or condemnation of the criminal Assad regime for
    killing a Syrian American citizen. But sadly, the
    administration did issue condolences for Abraham Raisi, the
    Butcher of Tehran who was singlehandedly responsible for the
    murder of tens of thousands of Iranian civilians. This
    juxtaposition clearly shows where the administration has chosen
    to side unfortunately with dictators.
        It's time to reevaluate the U.S. relationship with Iraq.
    The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces are working against the
    best interest to the United States and democracy. I am grateful
    to have had an amendment to the NDAA yesterday on this topic,
    designating a report on the malign influence of the PMF and
    their collaboration with the regime in Tehran.
        I am grateful that my two oldest sons, Allen and Addison,
    have served in Iraq to liberate the people of Iraq. And so I
    have, again, a special interest for the people of Iraq that
    they have a bright future. And it can't be with the Iranian
    influence. Finally, the United States continues to be the most
    generous nation in the world with regard to international aid.
        However, the weaponization of international aid through
    diversion by dictators and terrorists is a widespread problem
    that must be confronted. Steps must be taken to ensure aid is
    not diverted to dictators and reaches organizations such as the
    White Helmets which actually work to help the people of Syria.
    I'm grateful that my amendment to the National Defense
    Authorization Act yesterday passed unanimously to prevent
    normalization of the mass murder Assad.
        The world is currently engaged in a global conflict that we
    did not choose. Dictators with rule of gun on one side
    beginning with the invasion, February 24, 2022, by war criminal
    Putin and democracy and rule of law on the other. Today, all
    eyes are on the Middle East, and we look forward to hearing
    from you how you plan to promote peace through strength and
    budget for the year.
        Thank you, witnesses, for your time. And now I'm so
    grateful. We have with us today back in his rightful place, the
    ranking member, the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Dean Phillips
    for his opening statements.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF SUBCOMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER DEAN PHILLIPS

        Mr. Phillips. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the kind words
    and your leadership. And just a reminder to all of us and all
    of you and anybody who might be watching that this is a
    committee dedicated to diplomacy and to peace, not to war. We
    are here to identify tactics, provide resources, inspiration,
    and strategies to end bloodshed.
        And I know I speak for every single one of my colleagues,
    Democrats and Republicans, when I say that any child, any child
    in this world, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic
    who loses a life in war is one child too many. I want to thank
    Assistant Secretary Leaf and Deputy Assistant Administrator
    Pryor for being with us today. And clearly, the world has
    changed considerably since our last hearing less than a year
    ago.
        Discussion about strengthening U.S. engagement in the
    Middle East, countering Russian and Chinese influence in the
    region, and promoting regional integration and economic growth
    have been supplanted by the appalling bloodshed in both Israel
    and Gaza. The Hamas terror attack of October 7th claimed 1,200
    Israeli lives and 253 hostages, including Americans. I want to
    reiterate that.
        Americans continue to be held hostage in Gaza by a terror
    organization with approximately 134 remaining in captivity
    today. And many of the women and girls killed or held captive
    have been subject to the most incomprehensible, disgusting
    sexual violence imaginable at the hands of Hamas terrorists.
    There's not a single nation in the entire world that would not
    have responded by aggressively targeting the elimination of
    Hamas along with its key sponsor, the Iranian regime, are the
    most destructive and destabilizing elements in the entire
    Middle East.
        Israel has justifiably declared war on Hamas, not the
    Palestinian people. Hamas has sworn to the destruction of
    Israel. They are coward who use women and children as human
    shields.
        They are coward who hide in tunnels, thousands of miles of
    tunnels, under dense population centers. And they are coward
    who operate and headquarter in hospitals and schools. In the 8
    months since October 7th, the United Nations estimates that
    over 35,000 human beings have been killed in Gaza.
        While many thousands are clearly Hamas terrorists, there is
    no denying the loss of thousands, thousands of innocent lives
    in Gaza and near famine conditions that are currently ravaging
    the population. Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli
    government have a responsibility to ensure increased
    humanitarian aid reaches Palestinian civilians unimpeded and
    that all operations to eliminate Hamas terrorists are conducted
    in accordance with international humanitarian law. And when
    violations and tragedies occur such as the strike on the World
    Central Kitchen employees, it is Israeli's responsibility to
    fully and comprehensively investigate such incidents and hold
    individuals accountable.
        Let me be clear. I am deeply, deeply concerned about the
    Israeli government's failure to present a credible and
    actionable strategy to ensure the durable elimination of Hamas,
    the return of all hostages, and to enable finally Palestinian
    self-governance and security. It has become clear that Prime
    Minister Netanyahu seems to be more focused on preserving his
    own position of power and short-term political advantages over
    the long-term security and prosperity of both Palestinians and
    Israelis alike.
        So we find ourselves at yet another critical juncture.
    During last year's hearing, we spoke about the extraordinary
    possibility of a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement which
    despite this crisis still remains a possibility contingent, and
    I repeat, contingent on Israel and the Arab world taking the
    courageous steps necessary to realize it. And while Gaza
    remains front and center, we mustn't forget Hezbollah
    continuing to violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 by
    launching thousands of missiles and rockets toward Israel's
    population centers.
        We mustn't forget the Houthis in Yemen who continue to
    attack commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, having
    done so over 68 times while preventing assistance from reaching
    Yemeni civilians, half of whom desperately need humanitarian
    aid. And we mustn't forget the millions of displaced people and
    refugees desperate for the same thing that every single one of
    us in this room take for granted, a roof over our heads, food
    on the table for our children, and a future of possibility. The
    Near East Affairs budget must reflect the acute needs of the
    region while affording your agencies the ability and the
    flexibility to effectively respond to these challenges.
        I am pleased that Congress finally came together to pass
    the National Security Supplemental Bill which including 8.7
    billion in military aid and defense assistance to Israel and 9
    billion in global humanitarian aid, much of which will be
    deployed to Gaza.
        I also urge your continued focus on repatriation and
    reintegration efforts for ISIS families in refugee camps like
    al-Hol and Roj in northeast Syria and your commitment to
    working to address the humanitarian and security conditions
    inside those camps. We also must address Democratic backsliding
    in Tunisia and pushback against President Saied's authoritarian
    rule and his continued destruction of institutional checks and
    balances, arrests, and targeting of political adversaries and
    silencing of the media and civil society.
        And, finally, we must continue to encourage the selection
    of a Lebanese president, long overdue, who can unite the
    country, promote transparency and accountability and finally
    put the interests of the Lebanese people above individual
    enrichment and outside influence. Lebanon is facing a horrific
    economic crisis, a refugee crisis, and a Hezbollah crisis. We
    cannot address these things without a legitimate government in
    place.
        Most of all, thank you to both of you, our witnesses, to
    your teams for all the extraordinary work that you do every day
    on behalf of the United States of America and humanity. With
    that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.
        Mr. Wilson. And indeed, thank you, Congressman Dean
    Phillips. And it's somewhat sad. We're in the final months of
    Congressman Phillips serving in Congress. He's going on to
    bigger and better things in the future. But he shall be missed.
    But you can tell his passion and his background is so
    appreciated in a bipartisan way.
        We are pleased to have as distinguished witnesses today
    Hon. Barbara A. Leaf, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of
    Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State, and Ms. Jeanne
    Pryor, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of the
    Middle East at USAID. Thank you for being here today, and your
    full statements will be made for the record. And we will keep
    the spoken remarks to 5 minutes so that we have time for
    members to ask questions. And I now recognize Assistant
    Secretary Leaf for the opening statement.

                        STATEMENT OF BARBARA LEAF

        Ms. Leaf. Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Phillips, members
    of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me here today to
    testify on the President's Fiscal Year 202025 budget request
    for the Middle East and North Africa which remains--a region
    which remains of vital importance to U.S. interests. While the
    Israel-Hamas conflict and escalation by Iran and its proxies
    complicate our work, the administration is fully committed to
    leading the collective action necessary for a secure and stable
    region responsive to the needs of its people. Diplomacy is the
    best means to address the issues at hand, and your support will
    undergird our vigorous diplomatic engagements to advance U.S.
    interests and contests strategic competitors seeking to exploit
    post-October 7th instability.
        A regional engagement is anchored by a resolute effort to
    reinforce our partnerships as they are tested by conflict.
    We're committed to building enduring peace and security for and
    between Israelis and Palestinians, including through eventual
    steps to establish a Palestinian State existing side by side
    with Israel. Our Fiscal Year 202025 request includes crucial
    lifesaving aid for Palestinians in Gaza, as well as millions of
    refugees and internally displaced persons in Lebanon, Syria,
    Jordan, and Yemen.
        Our unrivaled network of partnerships, including those
    forged through the Abraham Accords, creates integrated defense
    and deterrence to counter malign actors. Israel with the help
    of the United States and a network of our allies was able to
    defend itself from Iran's unprecedented missile and drone
    attack. To hold Iran accountable, we engage with EU partners to
    secure expansion of sanction authorities and work jointly with
    the G-7 and others to impose sanctions.
        Our regional partners play an important role in ensuring
    regional stability and security. Egypt remains a critical
    partner for addressing the Israel-Hamas conflict and preventing
    regional spillover. It serves as a key staging ground, an entry
    point for humanitarian aid, and as a throughput for those
    evacuating Gaza.
        With Qatar, Egypt is indispensable to our efforts to secure
    the release of hostages. Jordan has also played a leading role
    in promoting peace and security in the region. And that
    cooperation remains critical to our own security priorities.
        In 2022, we signed the 7-year MOU on assistance. Jordan is
    making progress toward its benchmarks, and we will be with them
    every step of the way to implement them. Diplomatic engagement
    and solutions that build resilient institutions are the only
    viable paths toward restoring and maintaining stability in the
    region.
        Diplomacy can allow Lebanese and Israeli civilians on both
    sides of the Blue Line to return home. Our support enables
    Lebanese armed forces to provide stability and security for
    those living on both sides of the Blue Line. We were grateful
    for the role they played protecting our embassy perimeter in
    Beirut during violent protests last October.
        Our request also calibrates support for the Tunisian people
    and to address their needs in an increasingly forbidding
    environment. Targeted U.S. investments have promoted
    professionalism and accountability within the Tunisian armed
    forces and counters strategic competitors attempting to gain
    influence by exploiting Tunisia's current security challenges.
    Your support for the Department's plans to establish an interim
    diplomatic facility in Libya allows us to scale up our
    diplomacy amid an intensification of Russia's destabilizing
    influence.
        Libya's funding under the Global Fragility Act and our
    $19.25 million in bilateral assistance request supports Libya's
    eventual transition to a democratic, stable, and unified
    states. We seek a durable resolution to the conflict in Yemen
    through an inclusive peace process under U.N. auspices.
    Reckless Houthi attacks in the Red Sea threaten the regional
    and global economy and undermine those prospects.
        The $41.6 million in Yemen request advances our priorities
    of lasting peace in Yemen and economic security for the Yemeni
    people. Our commitment to greater regional stability includes
    the enduring defeat of ISIS which continues to pose a resilient
    threat. With funds raised through the coalition and continued
    support of Congress, we can address and resettle families from
    al-Hol and Roj camps and provide stabilization to foster
    resilience in local communities.
        A key U.S. priority is fostering a stable and sovereign
    Iraq integrated regionally and with the global economic system.
    Our work with Iraq to diversify and grow its economy and
    develop real energy independence helps the Sudani government
    deliver better opportunities for the Iraqi people. And that
    includes an inclusive State for Iraq's religious and ethnic
    minorities.
        While events in the last year have injected dramatic
    dynamics into the Middle East and North Africa, our commitment
    to the region remains steadfast. The Department is committed to
    supporting our partners working together to address shared
    challenges. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the
    President's budget request, and I want to close by thanking the
    subcommittee for your continued support for our efforts in the
    regions. And I want to give a shout out to my staff in the
    field and the staff in the NEA Bureau who helped me prepare for
    this today.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Leaf follows:]
        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Assistant Secretary Leaf.
    And we now recognize Department Assistant Administrator Pryor
    for your opening statement.

                        STATEMENT OF JEANNE PRYOR

        Ms. Pryor. Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Phillips, and
    distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for
    inviting me here to testify today at this incredibly difficult
    time in our region. We all know that the Middle East and North
    Africa are at a critical inflection point. Hamas' abhorrent
    attack on Israel and the ongoing conflict in Gaza have taken
    center stage across the globe.
        The challenges of the moment offering opportunity in which
    the relatively modest amounts in our Fiscal Year 2025 request
    might play an outsized role in shaping a peaceful and
    prosperous future for the region. While we remain focused on
    the immediate response, we must also examine the entire scope
    of the region's challenges in order to envision a path forward.
    Water and food insecurity, high numbers of displaced persons
    from conflicts and natural disasters, corruption and economic
    mismanagement already strained the region's resources prior to
    October 7th.
        The region's fragile economies have been further set behind
    by the ongoing violence. Palestinian gross domestic product in
    2023 declined by 1 billion compared with 2022, all of that in
    the fourth quarter. And earlier this year, the International
    Monetary Fund lowered its growth forecast for the region to 2
    percent, significantly below the 5.6 percent gross seen in
    2022.
        Despite the difficulties of this moment, Hamas' horrific
    attack makes clear the high cost of yielding the competition
    for the region's future, not only for the United States but
    also for our regional allies. Our Fiscal Year 2025 request
    proposes critical investments to address the region's needs. In
    response to the conflict, we have requested an increase of 10.3
    million to mitigate post-conflict needs in Gaza and the West
    Bank and five million for Lebanon. We've also requested an 11
    million increase in funding to support Morocco's recovery from
    last year's earthquake and an additional 22 million in Syria to
    reintegrate returnees from al-Hol into their communities.
        We will use these increases and other requested investments
    to build on previous accomplishments. For example, just this
    month, USAID supported the departure of 66 families from al-Hol
    camp to Deir ez-Zor Governorate where we are supporting them in
    their communities with legal assistance, transitional shelter,
    psychosocial support, and job opportunities. And just this week
    in Morocco, Administrator Samantha Power announced our
    partnership with the government of Morocco and an NGO to give
    direct cash grants to 180 cooperatives whose livelihoods were
    compromised by the earthquake.
        Our peacebuilding work deserves particular attention given
    the growing divisions in the region. Although tensions remain
    high, we continue to see signs of hope in the dedicated
    peacebuilders in the region. Our partners through the Nita M.
    Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act remain committed to
    their work.
        And our Middle East Regional Cooperation program has
    likewise seen positive signals for continued cross border
    collaboration from its participants. Proposals for
    collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli researchers
    remain among the top proposed MERC partnerships. Our Fiscal
    Year 2025 request continues funding for these critical
    activities to continue the work of building enduring peaceful
    ties between Israel and its neighbors.
        Despite the numerous regional challenges, space remains to
    influence the trajectory of the region. The region's young
    population will play a critical role in shaping their future.
    We must invest in helping these young people develop a Middle
    East and North African region that is integrated into the
    global economy. With the funds requested, we will not only
    empower the people of the Middle East in North Africa to forge
    a more promising and prosperous future but also ensure security
    for America and its allies. Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Pryor follows:]
        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Ms. Pryor. And I now
    recognize Congressman Brian Mast. And I want to thank him. At
    our last hearing, he showed his resolve. He stated hour after
    hour after hour and then was the person to be able to ask a
    question. So today, the last shall go first. Congressman Brian
    Mast.
        Mr. Mast. I'll take your word on that, Chairman. Thank you.
    Thank you both for your testimony today. I've reviewed your
    testimoneys prior to your attendance today.
        Secretary Leaf, my questions are primarily for you. Having
    reviewed your testimony, your request for budget, the
    discussion of post-conflict needs in Gaza, what you're
    requesting there, and specifically your statement in your
    written testimony about a two-State solution is the best way to
    ensure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic State living
    in peace alongside a viable, sovereign, and democratic
    Palestinian State as part of your testimony.
        It's fair to say you're the chief diplomat for America over
    the Mid East, the top dog as they say. That would be a fair
    categorization of yourself? Yes, ma'am. Turn your microphone on
    so everybody can hear you.
        Ms. Leaf. Yes.
        Mr. Mast. Very good. So my first question, I've asked this
    of others before. Have you objectively assessed your pursuit of
    a Palestinian state?
        Ms. Leaf. So Congressman, when have I objectively assessed
    it, meaning are the conditions there right now. They're not
    there.
        Mr. Mast. Did you objectively--did you just decide, hey, I
    think there should be a Palestinian state? Or did you
    objectively look at this?
        Ms. Leaf. Longstanding policy and it's certainly been the
    stated policy of this administration.
        Mr. Mast. But did you personally as the top dog over the
    Middle East objectively assess whether we should make a State
    out of a group that currently holds five Americans hostage--
    roughly five Americans hostage----
        Ms. Leaf. We----
        Mr. Mast [continuing]. Killed 35 Americans in the last
    couple months? Did you objectively assess?
        Ms. Leaf. So Congressman, we have no intention of working
    with Hamas in that endeavor. What we're talking about is
    something entirely different.
        Mr. Mast. I would hope you don't.
        Ms. Leaf. Yes.
        Mr. Mast. So let me ask a question related to that. But you
    did objectively assess this?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes.
        Mr. Mast. Okay. Who did you objectively assess would become
    the leader of the Palestinian State that you wish to create?
        Ms. Leaf. It's not for us to designate a leader.
        Mr. Mast. But if you are objectively assessing whether the
    United States of America should put resources into creating a
    Palestinian State as the top diplomat over the Middle East, we
    would expect that you objectively assessed who would become the
    leader of this State.
        Ms. Leaf. No, it is not for us to determine that.
        Mr. Mast. I didn't say you were going to determine it. I
    said who do you objectively assess will be the leader of that?
        Ms. Leaf. I don't have--I don't have an objective
    assessment as to who will be the leader of that.
        Mr. Mast. So you did not objectively assess who----
        Ms. Leaf. That's not part of the----
        Mr. Mast [continuing]. Would become the leader of the State
    that you wish to make?
        Ms. Leaf. No.
        Mr. Mast. So you don't assess--well, maybe you can do it
    right now. Would you assess that Hamas would be the leader of
    that state?
        Ms. Leaf. Absolutely not.
        Mr. Mast. Palestinian Islamic Jihad?
        Ms. Leaf. Absolutely not.
        Mr. Mast. Fatah?
        Ms. Leaf. Fatah is not the leader of anything right now. It
    is----
        Mr. Mast. I'm asking you if you assess.
        Ms. Leaf. Fatah is an organization. It's a political
    organization.
        Mr. Mast. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
        Ms. Leaf. It's one of the number--no, absolutely----
        Mr. Mast. Lion's Den.
        Ms. Leaf. Any of the--any of the FTOs, any of the
    organizations we have designated as foreign terrorist
    organizations are exactly that. That is not what we're talking
    about.
        Mr. Mast. But certainly as you being our top diplomat in
    the area, you should be able to understand that we should have
    every expectation that if you're pursuing, creating a
    Palestinian State that you would've objectively assessed who
    you think would be the leader of that. Now let me ask you
    something else. Do you objectively assess that if they were
    made a State today that they would have to be labeled a State
    sponsor of terror?
        Ms. Leaf. Who is the they in that question?
        Mr. Mast. A Palestinian State. Would it--a Palestinian
    State created prior to October 7, would it be a State sponsor
    of terror today?
        Ms. Leaf. It's a theoretical question I can't answer.
        Mr. Mast. Would you label them a State sponsor of terror
    today?
        Ms. Leaf. It's a theoretical question.
        Mr. Mast. Now you're just acting----
        Ms. Leaf. Actually, one in the past.
        Mr. Mast [continuing]. Like people do in D.C. Would you
    label them a State sponsored--do they meet the requirements?
        Ms. Leaf. Who's they?
        Mr. Mast. Well, their government is Hamas.
        Ms. Leaf. No. If you're talking about Hamas, I've already
    answered that question.
        Mr. Mast. But that is their government?
        Ms. Leaf. No, but we're not talking about Gaza. We're
    talking about a Palestinian State. And that's a larger
    question. And it would be a negotiated process.
        Mr. Mast. Who would negotiate that?
        Ms. Leaf. The U.S. would offer its good offices to
    negotiate between the parties.
        Mr. Mast. So we would negotiate it. But it's not up to us
    to think about who would be the leader of that Palestinian
    state?
        Ms. Leaf. Ever in the past----
        Mr. Mast. You should not objective assess that?
        Ms. Leaf. We have never in the past designated leaders in
    the guise of such negotiations.
        Mr. Mast. So I don't think what you're saying exactly adds
    up here, that you wouldn't assess who would be the leader of
    this Palestinian State.
        Ms. Leaf. For the Palestinians to determine.
        Mr. Mast. But the Palestinians----
        Ms. Leaf. But we're not talking----
        Mr. Mast [continuing]. Determined this in the past. And
    they determined Hamas would be their leadership. Polling after
    polling shows they would choose Hamas as their leadership.
        Ms. Leaf. The PLO is the recognized representative of the
    Palestinian people. Hamas is an FTO and lies outside of the
    PLO.
        Mr. Mast. You think the PLO----
        Ms. Leaf. The PLO is----
        Mr. Mast [continuing]. Is recognized as the leadership by
    the Palestinian people?
        Ms. Leaf. The Palestinian authority governs. The PLO is the
    representative.
        Mr. Mast. You think that's what the Palestinian people
    believe?
        Ms. Leaf. I haven't done polling on this recently.
        Mr. Mast. But as the top diplomat over the Middle East, I
    would expect that you've reviewed this.
        Ms. Leaf. But the PLO is the entity that did the Oslo
    Agreement with Israel, and----
        Mr. Mast. It appears to be that my time is expired. I thank
    you for trying to answer. You have not objectively assessed
    whether it is wise for America to pursue making a State out of
    Palestinians. And I suggest you do as the top diplomat over the
    Middle East.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congressman Brian Mast. We
    now proceed to ranking member Dean Phillips for 5 minutes.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Leaf, I
    want to thank you again for your emphasis on--and the State
    Department's emphasis on the repatriation and reintegration
    efforts of the ISIS families. I spoke about that in my opening
    remarks.
        My bill, the Syrian Detainee and Displaced Persons Act
    renewed the position of the ISIS detainee coordinator and
    directed the development of a strategy on how to address these
    camps. It became law in the 2024 NDAA and even in Minnesota.
    Two half-brothers were reunited with their grandparents and
    repatriated another family of ten back to the United States.
        So I just want to compliment you on that effort. I know
    some might question why would we do that for ISIS families. But
    perhaps you could speak to the why. Why is it important, the
    work that your team is doing is critical for U.S. national
    security?
        Ms. Leaf. So with regard to this effort on repatriation,
    and I will say it's an all hands effort because my colleagues
    in the Bureau for Counterterrorism also work assiduously on
    this effort, as does the Bureau for--PRM, the Bureau for
    Population and Migration. So what I would say is the following.
    Those encampments of al-Hol and Roj are both filled with
    families, children. More than half of the population is
    children.
        And they are the--sort of the human leftovers of ISIS. And
    they suffer as much as anyone at this point. The quest to
    resettle them in their home countries, whether it's largely
    Iraq or in Syria, goes precisely to the effort of trying to
    integrate people back into communities to make those
    communities resilient and to be resilient against a resurgent
    ISIS. And that goes directly to our national security
    interests.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you for that affirmation. Ms. Pryor,
    you spoke of MEPPA's people-to-people Partnership for Peace
    fund. Try to say that five times fast.
        Tell me how you're looking at that since October 7th. Has
    anything changed? And how has the peacebuilding community in
    general responded to these events since?
        Ms. Pryor. Thank you for your question. So we were
    concerned with the conflict. What would happen to MEPPA? But as
    we've worked with the peacebuilding community, we have been
    inspired by their reaction.
        What they see in this, in all their trauma, in all their
    grief and anguish on both sides, Israelis and Palestinians,
    they have redoubled their commitment to peace. And that's hard
    in their larger communities. So it is really incumbent upon us
    to continue our support to them while they try to bring back
    the idea of peaceful coexistence and rebuild those frayed ties
    between the two communities.
        I was very pleased that when we put out our most recent
    solicitation that we had nearly 100 applications. And so
    there's clearly still a commitment and a desire now more than
    ever to find ways for peaceful coexistence. Thank you.
        Mr. Phillips. I hope so. Thank you. Back to you, Secretary
    Leaf. Many of us are concerned about settler violence in the
    West Bank. It works against our aspirations for peace.
        I was encouraged by President Biden's EO imposing sanctions
    I think on 12 individuals. Can you discuss that? Has there been
    any change whatsoever in that activity? And if so, if you could
    articulate it.
        Ms. Leaf. So this has been a longstanding effort over the
    last I would say at least 2 years. And it culminated after
    October 7th with what we saw as a very sharp increase in
    violence on the ground in an effort to really just push
    communities off their land over and over again. And obviously,
    destabilizing clearly harmful for the interest of civility and
    for the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank.
        But frankly, it ultimately can be a spark and a flashpoint
    and therefore a security issue for Israel. We took action to
    really go after those who were leading this. And this is an
    ongoing process. We also engaged forthrightly with senior
    levels, military and civilian, in the Israeli government to
    cease the practice of Army units escorting settlers which they
    were doing at that time.
        That is largely but not entirely stopped. But we really
    asked the Israelis to redouble their effort to bring this down.
    We've seen a decrease but it is by no means over. And lately
    we've seen organized efforts to obstruct critical humanitarian
    aid going into Gaza.
        Mr. Phillips. Last quick question. I listened to my
    colleague, Mr. Mast's comments about the myriad of terrorist
    organizations ostensibly trying to represent Palestinians.
    Based on your experience in the region and even recent visits,
    do you get a sense of aspiration amongst the Palestinian people
    to select--given the opportunity to select a government that
    would want to make peace?
        Ms. Leaf. So what we have found and what polling indicated
    on the eve of October 7th was that those who had to live under
    Hamas' predations by and large rejected Hamas. But they didn't
    have a vote. Hamas rules by dent of the gun, by force. It is
    fair to say Palestinians long for State.
        Our stance is simple. It's a negotiated State. It's a State
    that shares the land in a sense with Israel, recognizes Israel
    as the PLO did more than 30 years ago.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you. And with that, my time is expired
    and I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you much, Ranking Member Dean Phillips.
    And now I recognize myself. And indeed I want to thank you for
    being here. And what a time in history.
        We need a bipartisan manner to achieve as much as we can.
    That's why I express concern again about Dr. Majd Kamalmaz in
    that he was a Syrian American. And we have so many people in
    our country who have family.
        They can be Yemeni. They can be Lebanese. We know Iraq,
    Iran, and Syria, Assad, to kill, murder an American citizen.
    There must be a response so that Americans can visit with their
    families safely.
        And of course, dictatorships have a history of doing this
    with the murder of Alexei Navalny, the kidnaping of Vladimir
    Kara-Murza by war criminal Putin over and over again. People
    should have freedom of travel without being kidnaped and
    murdered. With that in mind, I'm also so concerned about the
    regime in Tehran, the dictatorships, oil exports to finance
    their terrorist puppets, Hamas, Houthi, Hezbollah.
        Additionally, they use that money to oppress the people of
    Iran. We know that the vast majority of the people of Iran
    would want to live in a modern civilization. The Iranian
    American community diaspora, the Iranian diaspora around the
    world just dream 1 day for freedom and liberty for the people
    of Iran. With that in mind, to what extent is the
    administration working with the European allies to ensure a
    snapback of all U.N. sanctions on Iran to be triggered at the
    Security Council for the remaining restrictions on Iran's
    nuclear program lapse in 2025?
        Ms. Leaf. Congressman, thank you for that lay down of all
    the issues that, in fact, consume this administration. What I
    would say about snapback is this is an issue that is discussed
    diplomatically with our partners. I would default to discussing
    this in a classified setting as to the various aspects of the
    nuclear program and how that is affected by snapback or not.
        But I want to address some of the concerns that you just
    laid out about Iran's freewheeling efforts to destabilize the
    region. You're right. It is at a cost as much to the Iranian
    people as it is to the people of the region.
        And therefore, we have really bolstered our efforts both
    across economic, diplomatic military efforts to drive pressures
    on that end. As we saw on April 13th and 14th, we had an
    extraordinary opportunity that was quite successful to bring
    together regional and European partners to bolster and defend
    against proxy attacks and attacks directly from Iran against
    Israel. I think that is--however terrifying that night was for
    all of us, for Israelis most of all, it was a ready
    demonstration of an appetite for common action that we didn't
    see 10 years ago.
        Mr. Wilson. Additionally, back to Syria, it really concerns
    me the Arab League, much to all of our disappointment has
    recognized the Assad dictatorship. I'm hoping that every effort
    is made for the United States not to reach out to the
    dictatorship particularly in light of their use of chemical
    weapons. And then their use of chemical weapons, now we find
    out today that war criminal Putin is using chemical weapons
    against the civilian population of Ukraine.
        And the parallels keep going. And Putin helped lead the
    effort of the total destruction of Aleppo, then the total
    destruction of Mariupol, and now the planned destruction of the
    second largest city of Ukraine, 1.4 million people in Kharkiv
    and using chemical weapons against the defenders there. With
    that in mind, what effort is being made to prevent
    normalization with Assad?
        Ms. Leaf. So I'll just remind for the record this
    administration has no intentions of normalizing relations with
    Assad. It is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in
    the world right after Iran. And we continue to look for ways to
    use new sanction opportunities to increase that pressure.
        We've been very clear with our Arab and other partners that
    we see no value in the act of giving Assad reentry to the Arab
    League. It has looked like it's pretty formulated. He does not
    look like he has garnered the dividends that he had hoped to.
    But we make it very clear with our partners that there is no
    room for flouting our sanctions and that pressure ought to be
    applied by them in addition to us and our European partners on
    this account.
        Mr. Wilson. Well, every effort should be made. It's just so
    important to have peace through strength and to sanction the
    dictatorships around the world so they cannot be unlimited in
    their conduct of mass murder and slaughter. With that in mind,
    we now proceed to Congressman Brad Schneider of California--
    Sherman, Sherman not of Illinois.
        Mr. Sherman. Thank you. Thank you for being here. We saw
    the death of Ebrahim Raisi. Unfortunately, the Security Council
    decided for a moment of silence in mourning his death. And
    while we feel for the families of every human being, few have
    murdered as many thousands of people.
        I want to talk about some brave Iranians who now face the
    death penalty for speaking out for Women, Life, and Freedom
    Movement and for democracy in Iran. That includes rapper Toomaj
    Salehi who became an outspoken voice of protest. On April 30th,
    he was sentenced to death by two judges, neither of whom have
    been sanctioned by the United States.
        And so I hope you'll jot down as one of your items to do to
    see whether these two judges should be sanctioned. Since then,
    two more dissidents, Fawdar--sorry for the pronunciation--and
    Danielle Moghadam have been reportedly arrested for their own
    protests. Can you commit that the State Department will use all
    appropriate forums to call for the release of these
    individuals?
        Ms. Leaf. Absolutely.
        Mr. Sherman. And I would hope that you would suggest to
    Linda Thomas Greenfield that at an appropriate time in the
    Security Council there be a moment of silence for the families
    of those who--Ebrahim Raisi sentenced to death, 30,000 of them
    in 1988, the 1,500 murdered in 2019 in Bloody November, and the
    many others who are victims of his bloodstained hands. As to
    the Houthi, they have killed men for being gay. They have
    murdered and put their bodies hanging.
        They have murdered thousands. They are an illegal terrorist
    group. But what is also not recognized is that there is a real
    genocide that has happened in Ethiopia. And there are now the
    600,000 people are dead.
        And now food in the horn of Africa is more costly as a
    direct result of the Houthi who are probably killing more today
    through their actions in driving up the price of food to the
    point where people can't afford it than events in Gaza. We have
    occasionally bombed the Houthi to stop them or retaliate for
    them hitting ships. But bombing isn't precise.
        Saudi bombing is so imprecise that we get a little angry at
    it now and then. There's a legitimate government of Yemen.
    They're asking for defense articles.
        They're willing to do on the ground what needs to be done
    to save thousands of lives and Yemen--hundreds of thousands of
    lives. And Yemen, hundreds of thousands of lives for those
    dependent upon food shipments to the Red Sea. Why are we not
    providing those defense articles?
        Ms. Leaf. Thank you for that set of questions, Congressman.
    So when the administration came into office, one of the first
    acts of the President on foreign policy terms was to establish
    to set up a--ask that we set up an envoy in an effort to drive
    the ongoing war at that time to a close, to a peaceful close,
    to a truce. That is what we did over the course of 2 years.
        And we have a de facto truce. However, in the meantime,
    this--and a roadmap to peace to Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations
    under U.N. auspices. Quite frankly, we think the food
    insecurity would only grow vaster, greater. The situation would
    become more parlous if that war were to resume.
        Mr. Sherman. I'm not suggesting you resume--resumption of
    the war. But if a legitimate government doesn't have defense
    articles, that will resume the war as we know that Marib is
    under possible Houthi attack. So if you're going to prevent the
    Houthis from expanding this war, peace through strength rather
    than the idea that because you're for peace, you're against
    defense articles.
        Ms. Leaf. No, I understand what you mean.
        Mr. Sherman. I'll point out that we had Blinken, of course,
    yesterday. He committed that within 30 days he'd get back to us
    as to whether the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza should
    be designated as either a foreign terrorist organization or
    specially designated terrorist organization. And I bring that
    to your attention because you're the one that's actually going
    to have to do the work.
        But, as you know, Hamas does not act alone. It has sister,
    cousin organizations, Islamic Jihad. Palestinian Islamic Jihad
    is the best known of those. Second on that list is the Popular
    Resistance Committees, who are responsible for participating in
    the massacres of October 7th, but have also killed both
    American and Israeli civilians.
        So I hope that you'll get that work done and that we will
    see them designated. I'll leave it to you as to which of those
    two designations most apply. And finally, as I pointed out to
    Secretary Blinken, we cannot--we want a rapprochement with
    Saudi Arabia and Israel but not at the cost of a successful
    Saudi nuclear program.
        Saudi has occasionally said they want what Iran has. Well,
    Iran has the enmity and hostility of the United States. Saudi
    Arabia, remember that any weapon that was in the Shah's hands,
    supposedly our friend in 1978, was in the hands of the
    Ayatollahs in 1979. So I hope that any 123 Agreement with Saudi
    Arabia has the additional protocol for more inspection,
    prohibits reprocessing, prohibits refinement, and otherwise
    meets the gold standard. And that gold standard is already
    exemplified in our agreement with the UAE--our nuclear
    cooperation agreement with the UAE.
        Mr. Wilson. And thank you, Congressman Brad Sherman of
    California. And we now proceed to Congressman Mike Lawler of
    New York.
        Mr. Lawler. Yesterday, I asked Secretary Blinken if the
    administration was implementing the SHIP Act and the Iran China
    Energy Sanctions Act which were signed into law as part of the
    supplemental last month. He said that they have been
    sanctioning oil tankers involved in the Iranian oil trade but
    that's not exactly what the bills do. So Mr. Leaf, do you plan
    to implement the SHIP Act's sanctions against ports and
    refineries that process Iranian oil?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes.
        Mr. Lawler. Have you started that process?
        Ms. Leaf. I would have to get a more detailed answer for
    you, Congressman. I don't know where that process lies. I know
    that we've sanctioned over 220 persons that are involved in the
    shipment--transshipment of oil.
        Mr. Lawler. Since the bill took effect?
        Ms. Leaf. I don't know----
        Mr. Lawler. Or you're talking about prior to?
        Ms. Leaf. Up to now, up to now.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. Well, up to now, Iranian oil sales are up
    $88 billion since Joe Biden took office. So I would say what
    you're doing up to now has not been effective. Do you plan to
    implement the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act, sanctions
    against Chinese financial institutions and cooperation with
    other departments?
        Ms. Leaf. We will carry out the law, Congressman.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. But to your knowledge, it has not yet
    started?
        Ms. Leaf. I will get back to you on that.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. Last year's NDAA included my bill to
    create a special envoy position at the State Department to
    prioritize and expand the Abraham Accords. What steps has the
    State Department taken thus far since that bill took effect?
        Ms. Leaf. We do not have an envoy. And we were--however,
    that said, we had a whole set of staff working on normalization
    issues all the way up through October 7th. That work will
    continue apace when the conditions are right. As you know, we
    have had a specific set of normalization efforts underway as
    regards to Saudi Arabia. The national security advisor just
    reported out on those discussions between Saudi Arabia and the
    U.S. and then his briefings to the Israeli government.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. So just to be clear, within the NDAA,
    there was a provision to create the special envoy for the
    Abraham Accords. And to date what has been done to enact that--
    --
        Ms. Leaf. We do not have an envoy.
        Mr. Lawler. Is there a short list? Is somebody pulling
    together a list?
        Ms. Leaf. Not that I'm aware.
        Mr. Lawler. So the administration has no intention of
    filling this position?
        Ms. Leaf. No, I did not say that. I said we do not have an
    envoy at this time.
        Mr. Lawler. So this was signed into law in December. When
    do you anticipate that this process will get started?
        Ms. Leaf. I can't answer that today. I'll be happy to get
    back to you.
        Mr. Lawler. That's disturbing. Ms. Leaf, the ICC is an
    absolute abomination. Do you agree that the ICC has an anti-
    Israel bias?
        Ms. Leaf. Well, I think we spoke very clearly over the last
    couple of days about this, that it was a shameful equivalency
    that was drawn between the acts of Hamas and the Israeli
    leadership. I think this President and the Secretary have been
    very clear on this point.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. I----
        Ms. Leaf. I can't answer a larger question about----
        Mr. Lawler. Do you think there's an anti-Israel bias at the
    ICC?
        Ms. Leaf. I'm not in the position to judge that.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. Do you agree with Senator Schumer that
    there should be regime change in Israel?
        Ms. Leaf. The administration is not fostering regime change
    anywhere, including in Israel.
        Mr. Lawler. So you don't agree with Senator Schumer's----
        Ms. Leaf. That is a decision----
        Mr. Lawler [continuing]. Demand that there be a regime
    change?
        Ms. Leaf [continuing]. Totally for the Israeli people.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. Do you agree with Nancy Pelosi when she
    said that Benjamin Netanyahu should resign?
        Ms. Leaf. That is a decision for the Israeli people.
        Mr. Lawler. So you don't agree with Nancy Pelosi?
        Ms. Leaf. I do not.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. Is Israel committing a genocide in Gaza?
        Ms. Leaf. No.
        Mr. Lawler. The fastest way for a cease-fire to occur would
    be for Hamas to surrender and release all the hostages,
    correct?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes, it is.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. If the--and you agree that Iran and
    Hamas' stated goal is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth,
    correct?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes, yes, it is.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. So knowing that, why did the
    administration withhold weapons to aid Israel despite Congress
    approving the delivery of these weapons?
        Ms. Leaf. So at a time of intense discussions with the
    Israeli leadership--between the U.S. and Israeli leadership
    over the question of a major combat operation in Rafah where at
    the time 1.4 million IDPs were crowded into a very congested
    piece of Gaza where all the infrastructure for their assistance
    was located there. At that time, the president made a decision
    to hit pause on one shipment so that those discussions could
    continue but that those weapons would not be used in such an
    operation. And these discussions continued. They continued
    during the national security----
        Mr. Lawler. But you agree that Hamas uses innocent
    Palestinians as human shields, correct?
        Ms. Leaf. Absolutely.
        Mr. Lawler. Okay. I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. And again, thank you so much, Congressman Mike
    Lawler, for your very insightful questions. And now we proceed
    to Congresswoman Kathy Manning of North Carolina.
        Ms. Manning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to my
    friends, Chairman Wilson and Ranking Member Phillips. And thank
    you to our witnesses for joining us today. Assistant Secretary
    Leaf, yesterday I asked Secretary Blinken about the alarming
    reports that Egypt secretly changed the terms of a cease-fire
    proposal, a good proposal that Israel had signed off on which
    jeopardized the release--the deal to release the hostages. Can
    you tell us what exactly happened there?
        Ms. Leaf. I've seen those reports. I really can't elaborate
    on them. And I don't really know whether there's anything at
    all to this.
        Ms. Manning. I hope you will followup on this because it is
    extremely disturbing to think that a country that we give
    billions of dollars to aid every year would change the terms of
    a cease-fire agreement and jeopardize getting the release of
    hostages who we are all determined to get back to their loved
    ones safely. Do you find that recognition of a Palestinian
    State by Spain and Ireland and Norway and other unilateral
    steps are effective to help secure the release of the hostages
    and forge a resolution to the conflict?
        Ms. Leaf. So our stance on this is very clear. We support a
    negotiated solution, a negotiated creation or roadmap to a
    negotiated Palestinian State. Unilateral recognition doesn't
    advance anything.
        Ms. Manning. And can you clarify the administration's
    policy on the Israeli operation in Rafah? Do you believe--I
    mean, we've now seen what's happening in Rafah. There is the
    exodus of many, many people from--innocent civilians from that
    situation. How can Hamas be defeated in Rafah without--how can
    Hamas be defeated without any operation in Rafah?
        Ms. Leaf. No, I think the President and the Secretary and
    the national security advisor, all of us who've had these
    discussions have been very clear. It's a question of how an
    operation is undertaken, under what conditions, setting the
    conditions for people to safely move, ensuring that there's a
    humanitarian infrastructure for them to move to. And then how
    to go in is the subject of military to military discussion. And
    I think our military has given really good advice on going in a
    targeted way in a way that really mitigates the risk of
    civilian harm.
        Ms. Manning. And have the Israelis been open to that
    advice?
        Ms. Leaf. We have seen them adjust over time. And we are
    watching this very closely as the national security advisor
    said.
        Ms. Manning. So as we discuss the day after, hopefully when
    this war concludes, how do you see the willingness of Arab
    partners to assist with the post-war security and
    reconstruction? And do you see hopeful signs?
        Ms. Leaf. I do. I do. And look, this conflict has
    engendered tremendous turmoil, public anger across the region
    at the suffering that has been very visible to everyone, the
    suffering of civilians who were caught in harm's way in the
    conflict. But I think the governments that we have been talking
    to, those with relationships now with Israel and several who do
    not yet have relationships.
        They have a deep going commitment to the same quest that we
    have which is an enlarging integration across the region. That
    means Israel integrated into the region. So I do expect that we
    have a lot of partners on the other side of this conflict.
        Ms. Manning. As I'm sure you have been doing, I have been
    following all of the reports about the horrific sexual
    violence, mutilation, humiliation that was used as a weapon of
    war by Hamas against Israeli women and girls. And we are deeply
    concerned about those women who are still being held hostage.
    And recently, a video was released from a Hamas Go Pro camera
    showing how horrific their treatment has been. What levers do
    you see for getting Sinwar to release those hostages?
        Ms. Leaf. So I met with families of those five young women
    on one of my, I think, eight trips out to the region since
    October. And it was a wrenching discussion. And I for one could
    not bear to look at that video again.
        At the end of the day, we have at the end of a phone line a
    guy who many people have termed a psychopath. He's certainly
    messianic. He certainly thinks he's achieved some place in
    history.
        And he has dragged everyone toward a terrible place. But I
    will assure you that both Egypt and Qatar and a few other
    countries that have some level of influence. But especially
    those two countries, they have worked relentlessly at this
    effort.
        So yes, there is pressure from conditions of the conflict
    itself. There's pressure, I think, from Gazans who want an end
    to this conflict. But our two partners have put unstinting
    pressure on Hamas.
        Ms. Manning. Thank you for your testimony. I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Kathy
    Manning. Again, can you imagine, we're going to miss--we lose
    Dean Phillips and Kathy Manning. This is just not good. But we
    appreciate their service.
        And then we get very talented freshmen in here too. So
    Congressman Gabe Amo all the way from Rhode Island.
        Mr. Amo. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank you,
    Assistant Secretary Leaf and Ms. Pryor for being here today. As
    we continue to witness the devastation in Gaza and increased
    instability across the region, it is clear that we need an
    immediate and lasting cease-fire that surges humanitarian aid
    into Gaza and releases the hostages that continue to be held by
    Hamas.
        As my colleague, Ms. Manning, just stated, we must be
    prepared for the day after. A long term plan is essential for
    Israelis and Palestinians alike to have security and self-
    determination. And I pray, personally, that it's a plan where
    the tragic events on and following October 7th are never
    repeated.
        This committee, the State Department, and USAID will play
    an important role in the cease-fire negotiations and a long-
    term path to peace. Assistant Secretary Leaf, I just want to
    hear briefly about how you and leaders at the State Department
    have elevated the humanitarian imperatives as you've engaged in
    negotiations and your thinking as it relates to the day after.
        Ms. Leaf. Thank you, Congressman. So we have out on the
    field right now a special envoy, Lise Grande, who has 30-plus
    years of working in the most dire of humanitarian conditions,
    places of conflict. And she is out there in Israel now leading
    our efforts, corralling our efforts working across the Israeli
    government with the Egyptian government with humanitarian
    actors with the Israeli military to really bring everything to
    bear so that we can have a true surge of humanitarian
    assistance.
        It's not just episodic but it is sustained. The conflict is
    unbelievably complex. And the conditions inside Gaza really
    pose tremendous challenges to the humanitarian workers.
        Lise Grande is working hand in glove with all of these
    parties to see that there are deconfliction mechanisms, that
    all the pieces are put in place so that the food that the
    critical humanitarian assistance gets to those in need. She
    also has plenty of experience on stabilization effort. So when
    you talk about the post-conflict setting, we look at it in
    three sort of buckets.
        There is security. There is post-conflict governance. And
    there is the recovery and reconstruction piece. You can throw a
    lot of money at that last piece. But the first two pieces are
    really shaped first and foremost as the Secretary has said
    apart from the military effort to destroy Hamas' capabilities.
        Giving and allowing an alternative to Hamas' ideology is
    critical. So you've heard the Secretary, the National Security
    Advisor, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs speak to the need for
    Israel itself to have a larger strategic political set of
    objectives alongside the military campaign. Military campaign
    will just be, as the military say, continually mowing the grass
    but not really achieving that settled conditions in which we
    will work with our partners to stand up alternatives to Hamas
    in security, alternatives to Hamas in terms of governance.
        And to an earlier question, we think we have partners out
    there. We know we have partners out there. But we're going to
    need a lot of assistance to get those security and governance
    pieces elaborated in a way that works for the people of Gaza
    and that is framed in a larger political context.
        Mr. Amo. On the point of surging humanitarian aid topic
    that I am concerned with, earlier this month, Ms. Pryor, USAID
    announced additional greater Federal funding for ready to use
    therapeutic foods, lifesaving treatment for children who are
    facing acute malnutrition. One of only two domestic producers
    of those ready to use therapeutic foods as in my home State of
    Rhode Island at a nonprofit named Edesia Nutrition which stands
    ready and able to offer this critical assistance to vulnerable
    civilians in Gaza, particularly the youngest. Ms. Pryor, how
    are these ready to use therapeutic foods getting into Gaza to
    help children facing malnutrition? And at present, are you able
    to effectively provide these therapeutic foods to civilians in
    Gaza?
        Ms. Pryor. Thank you, sir. You're right. Our RUTFs are
    incredibly important in an emergency response, especially for
    children who are suffering from severe food insecurity. The
    challenge right now is just getting goods in.
        We've had access, open, closed, depending upon security
    conditions within. We're not getting nearly enough assistance
    in. The economic support funds that I oversee don't actually
    engage in this. But I'm happy to go back to my humanitarian
    assistance colleagues and get more information about this issue
    specifically. Thank you.
        Mr. Amo. Thank you, Ms. Pryor. And I think the urgency of
    the moment is clear. And we need to act accordingly to make
    sure that we address the hunger that far too many are facing.
    And with that, I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congressman Gabe Amo. We
    now proceed to Congressman Brad Schneider of Illinois.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank
    both witnesses for being here today. I have so many questions.
    I wish we could dwell on all of them. But I'll start--first of
    all, associate myself with the comments of those who've gone
    before me but start at a high end. Is U.S. committed to our
    leadership role in the MENA region?
        Ms. Leaf. Absolutely.
        Mr. Schneider. And expected to stay committed to that for
    the long term?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes, sir.
        Mr. Schneider. Okay. Does the budget we're talking about
    and presented here reflect that priority and what we're trying
    to achieve?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes.
        Mr. Schneider. Those are my easy questions. I was speaking
    yesterday and I tried to make the point that the best way to
    ultimately defeat Hamas, PG in Gaza, Hezbollah, the Houthis,
    the militias in Syria and Iraq and all of which center
    ultimately at Iran. The best way to do that, the most
    devastating defeat to these organizations would be to get on a
    path to peace for the region. Both of you somewhat expand on
    that.
        Ms. Leaf. I'd be happy to. It's sort of the issue that's on
    my mind every day. So look, I think we saw rather horribly
    illuminated for the first time was the full range of proxies
    that have been stood up, created by Iran over 30-plus years.
    Nearly 40 years this has been a project of Iran's.
        And we who follow these things, we're well aware of that.
    We all are. The countries, the region feel the impact of those
    proxies on their sovereignty, on their security, stability.
        But this was a really rather ghastly illumination of the
    degree to which Iran has weaponized the issue of the
    unsuccessful quest for Palestinian statehood. You are
    absolutely right, Congressman. That is an abiding conviction of
    this administration that the best way to take the air out of
    the balloon if you will, to take this cause away from these
    terrible terrorist organizations and from Iran itself is to get
    the Palestinians on a pathway to a negotiated State, a State
    that recognizes Israel, that lives side by side with Israel and
    peace.
        Mr. Schneider. Ms. Pryor, I don't know if you want to add
    to that at all.
        Ms. Pryor. So I think we've made a number of investments
    over the years to support moderate voices throughout the
    region. And we can see the benefits of that, whether it's in
    Libya working with journalists who are calling out
    misinformation that is often by Russia or Tunisian Civil
    Society who continue to press on the need to get back to
    democracy. And so I think these are--it's big bang for the
    buck. It's modest resources that I think over time can have an
    outsized impact. Thank you.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you. Yesterday, Secretary Blinken was
    asked a question about the idea of two states. We were asked
    earlier about two states. But also the status of the region
    before October 7th versus after October 7th. And I think the
    question was put in a way that in September there was a sense
    that we were on a good path.
        We were talking about normalization between Saudi Arabia
    and Israel. Everything wasn't addressed, but we were taking
    steps to make big positive changes. The Abraham Accords I think
    are one of the biggest reflect of that.
        I'm proud with my colleagues here we founded the Abraham
    Accords Caucus of which I'm one of the co-chairs. We continue
    to work on that within the Abraham Accords Caucus. We're trying
    to create a Gaza working group or we have created a Gaza
    working group to focus on the need to bring first assistance
    and aid and security and governance ultimately to Gaza.
        But in the context of the Abraham Accords, Paul Becker
    talks about this idea that both Jews and Arabs belong to the
    same land. Abraham Accords recognizes that. I'd ask you to
    expand the idea objective assessment if you would of how
    important it is to recognize that both Jews and Arabs, Israelis
    and Palestinians belong to this land and that the path to peace
    is two states.
        Ms. Leaf. So I think it's indisputable that this status quo
    does not work for--the status quo being five million
    Palestinians to the east and to the west of Israel in a State
    of everything ranging from unhappiness to frustration to range
    to despair to militancy. It's a terrible recipe for militancy
    for radicalization. And Israel sits squarely between these
    communities.
        And again, it's a backdrop of a longstanding longing for a
    State of their own. So objectively, I can't see any other
    alternative. The status quo is terrible and it's been
    weaponized by Iran in the most malign fashion.
        And it radicalizes people. On the other hand, you have a
    set of states, those who had longstanding relations with
    Israel, Jordan and Egypt, those newcomers, or those who
    resumed, Morocco, Bahrain, UAE. They retain the avid desire not
    just to keep up the relationship but to deepen it, to expand
    it, and to see other people join that community, other states
    join that community.
        And that is the work that we are continuing to sort of keep
    the burners on and with specific regard to Saudi Arabia. As I
    said earlier, that is a specific opportunity that we would like
    to leverage. It will need to be on the other side of this
    conflict. But I think the other side of this conflict opens up
    a lot of possibilities.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you for the
    extended time. I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congressman Brad Schneider
    of Illinois. In cooperation with Ranking Member Dean Phillips,
    we now will proceed with the second round because what you're
    doing is so important. In fact, Ms. Pryor, I have always been
    so impressed about what the United States Agency of
    International Development has done.
        I always cherish my visits to Afghanistan to see the
    clasped hands of the U.S. and Afghan flags with an arrow
    leading a school. And I like to point out that at that time the
    sign was rusty. The people liked it there because it would've
    been very easy to take down.
        And then to see little girls going to school with white
    scarfs and little guys going to school with baseball caps which
    were are not indigenous to Afghanistan. And it's so sad now to
    know that so much of that is being reversed. But it was such a
    great effort.
        And, additionally, I visited Syrian refugee camps. And,
    gosh, what a positive experience to see how well organized. And
    these were half TEUs. This was not a tent. People had actually
    put a real effort into creating a society to see young people
    going to schools, even seeing a business area being set up,
    small businesses, commercial enterprise, revealing how capable
    that people are.
        But a concern I have has been the Gaza pier. Three hundred
    and 20 million dollars. To me, that is so irresponsible for the
    American taxpayers to spend that much money and then find out
    that the aid that's being transported is being diverted, not to
    the people of Gaza. And so what efforts are being made to make
    every effort that whatever aid there in Gaza goes to the people
    who need it most and not Hamas?
        Ms. Pryor. Thank you. Yes, we share that concern. The pier
    is intended to be another way to expand humanitarian assistance
    delivery. But really, it's no substitute for the land access,
    no substitute.
        Yes, we did have a concerning incident yesterday in which
    some of the assistance that came off of the pier was desperate
    people, desperate people taking it for themselves. However, I
    am happy to say we have been able to confirm that two-thirds of
    it has managed to make it through for formal, proper
    distribution. We are currently working with the U.N. and the
    Israelis to see what it is that we can collectively do to
    prevent this.
        I'm afraid the breakdown of social order in Gaza has been
    challenging. And the answer to keep desperate populations from
    just taking the aid off of the trucks is to flood aid into Gaza
    so there's no reason to. Thank you.
        Mr. Wilson. Well, whatever effort can be made. And of
    course, to me an overriding concern, Madam Secretary, is the
    potential of a nuclear Iran. I'm just so concerned that the
    destabilization that will occur with our great allies of the
    region and even more the existential threat to the people of
    Israel, existential to the people of the United States.
        They're developing ICBMs for a single reason. It's not for
    weather research. It's to ultimately fulfill their dream of
    death to Israel, death to America. So what is being done to
    block in every way these stockpiling of highly enriched
    uranium? What's being done because this is as existential for
    all of us?
        Ms. Leaf. I absolutely agree with you, Congressman. And I
    don't have to repeat. But I'll just say since 2018 when we
    withdrew from the JCPOA, we really lost eyes on in many ways
    and lost the restraints that were otherwise there on Iran.
        Iran has not shown a particular appetite or seriousness
    about nuclear diplomacy as we call it. But we are--the
    President remains committed to seeing that Iran never has a
    nuclear weapon. So we are using all the tools at our disposal
    and we're working with multilaterally as well as bilaterally on
    sanctions and disruption activities.
        And on the one hand, we've seen the steady accretion of
    fissile material. We have not yet but we watch very closely
    seeing steps taken that would move toward weaponization of
    that. But that is an overriding concern for the administration.
        Mr. Wilson. Well, every effort must be made because a
    nuclear Iran to me with their view of Armageddon, it's just got
    to be addressed. And I wish you well. But the duplicity of the
    JCPOA, they had no intent. That was a delay tactic. So with
    that, we, again, need to be working together. And showing that
    we do, I now recognize Ranking Member Dean Phillips.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Pryor, I want to
    ask about both Tunisia and Lebanon starting with Tunisia. The
    zeroing out of the development assistance account is troubling.
    Administrator Powers in her recent testimony to Congress
    indicated the same as it relates to investing and protecting
    rights and democracy in Tunisia. So I welcome your thoughts on
    that and how we can continue to do so if we are eliminating
    that budget.
        Ms. Pryor. Thank you. So the decrease in Tunisia's budget
    is very much a reflection of the democratic backsliding in the
    country and the hard choices we have to make across the region
    about where we invest our funds. However, we are preserving
    within the budget the same percentage of assistance for civil
    society as we have in the past. Civil society is key to holding
    the President of Tunisia accountable in pushing back on the
    democratic backsliding. And so our commitment to those
    organizations remains.
        Mr. Phillips. Can you give a little bit more detailed
    example of how that works and how those dollars are used to
    that end?
        Ms. Pryor. So, for example, we had a youth training program
    on leadership. And three of our--actually, six of our
    participants ran for the legislature and three of them were
    elected. So we now have a small foothold of moderate voices
    going in to Tunisia's deliberative bodies.
        Mr. Phillips. It goes without saying. I'm sure you would
    concur it's a little bit of the chicken and the egg. If we
    withdraw resources because of the backsliding, how can we
    reduce the backsliding? So I still find that troublesome I have
    to say.
        Lebanon, we're all aware of the political and economic
    crisis. Administrator Powers, of course, spoke about the mass
    displacement of civilians along the Lebanese-Israel border. Can
    you speak to ways that USAID is trying to address this other
    humanitarian issue that is not getting nearly the attention
    that I think it needs?
        Ms. Pryor. Yes, Lebanon has been just wracked by a terrible
    economic crisis that the World Bank calls one of the worst in
    150 years. Just to begin with going into the current conflict
    in the region. But Hezbollah's attacks on Israel has now
    spawned another humanitarian crisis in the south of Lebanon.
    Approximately 93,000 Lebanese have been displaced as a result
    of Hezbollah's actions.
        And they have lost their livelihoods. Their children are
    losing out on education. And so our budget request asks for a
    modest increase in Lebanon to help these people rebuild their
    lives, whether it's the opportunity to return to the
    communities of origin or if they have to start anew in another
    community.
        Mr. Phillips. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Leaf, relative to the
    livelihood support that has run out now for the LAF and the
    ISF, I think in December, are there ways that we can be
    supporting those institutions in Lebanon to provide some
    degree, a modicum of civility?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes. And I mean, part of the way we're doing that
    aside from the funding streams, the FMF, we are working
    assiduously in a couple of directions. One is diplomatic with a
    set of partners putting pressure frankly on the Lebanese
    parliament, the Lebanese political chieftains to do their job
    which is to elect a new President that will set up an empowered
    cabinet and a Prime Minister.
        And on the other hand, my colleague, Amos Hochstein,
    continues his work side by side with our Ambassador Lisa
    Johnson in Beirut to do the backdoor sort of de-escalation
    efforts between Israel and Hezbollah. And at the point when we
    move to a cease-fire, his work will begin in a proper formal
    way. And that will--we're looking--at that point through that
    process, we would look at a more bolstered effort for that but
    coupled with the border demarcation work.
        Mr. Phillips. Okay. On that subject, is there a chance do
    you think of a permanent border demarcation agreement?
        Ms. Leaf. Hope springs eternal. That's what we're aiming
    for.
        Mr. Phillips. Good. And then last, another refugee crisis,
    of course, the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. And I think a
    scapegoat for their economic challenges and whatnot. What are
    we doing to support them specifically?
        Ms. Leaf. Of course, we do a lot of work through our
    humanitarian funding across the region. We have demands in
    every direction. We are also redoubling our efforts with the
    Lebanese government not to target them, not to do anything that
    would look like refoulement, but to allow them access to the
    same funds.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you. And quickly, Ms. Pryor, anything
    USAID on that subject of Syrian refugees quickly.
        Ms. Pryor. Yes, on our side, in addition to providing
    humanitarian assistance, one way which we do is using
    electronic vouchers. So Syrian refugees pump money into the
    Lebanese economy. But on the development side, what we have
    done is we work with the Lebanese communities that are hosting
    these refugees to reduce the toll on the communities.
        So for example, we have helped these communities expand
    schools to accommodate Syrian refugee children. We have helped
    communities improve their water pumping stations and wastewater
    treatment to accommodate the extra pressures that the refugees
    are putting on this critical infrastructure. So that this way,
    the Lebanese don't also suffer along with the Syrian refugees.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you both, and I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congressman Phillips. And
    I want to commend you, Ms. Pryor. The voucher system really
    works. That's very creative. And to address again in Syria the
    thought that half of the population, 14 million people, due to
    the Assad dictatorship, they've lost their homes, businesses,
    their mosques, their church. But thank goodness we've got good
    people like Kathy Manning now who try to get things back on
    track.
        Ms. Manning. I assume you're turning it over to me, Mr.
    Chairman. Thank you. I appreciate that. Actually, well, let's
    stick with Syria and Lebanon for just a minute.
        You have described a really terrible situation in Lebanon
    which we are all aware of. And it's because of Hezbollah. It's
    because of Iran. It's because of all the refugees that have
    been forced out of their homes in Syria because of Assad. What,
    if anything, can be done with regard to Lebanon? Is there any
    chance of pushing Hezbollah out?
        Ms. Leaf. Honestly, not at this time. There's no
    institution. There's no element of society that can come up
    against Hezbollah. But I think one thing that was--may have
    been missing from your litany, Congresswoman, is the
    responsibility of Lebanon's own politicians to put their house
    in order, that's where the work begins.
        To put a fully empowered government in place that will
    undertake critical economic reforms that will raise the country
    from its dire State. They're in a gridlock of their devising.
    And so yes, they lose control over anything, including the
    degree to which Hezbollah drags Lebanon into a war.
        Ms. Manning. Well, that makes me think about the innocent
    Palestinian people in Gaza who have not been able to create any
    kind of a responsible government. When you think about all of
    the 400 miles of underground tunnels, sophisticated tunnels and
    all the building equipment that went into those tunnels to be
    used for a war rather than that equipment could've been used to
    build houses and schools and businesses. Why have the people in
    Gaza been unable to get rid of Hamas?
        Ms. Leaf. I think it's--if you look at footage of the
    events back in 2006, 2007, people were being thrown off
    rooftops----
        Ms. Manning. By Hamas?
        Ms. Leaf [continuing]. By Hamas. And those were other
    Palestinian political elements, Fatah and others. It's been a
    reign of terror, and it's been a very closed off piece of
    territory. So it's not surprising in a sense.
        I want to see at the end of this conflict on the other side
    of it the opportunity for Palestinians of Gaza really to enjoy
    the fruits of selecting their own leadership and running their
    own affairs.
        Ms. Manning. So let me ask you about UNRWA because I
    question whether the underlying mandate of UNRWA which has been
    only to assist the refugees, not to help them build new lives,
    not to resettle them, whether that underlying mandate has been
    a fundamental problem that has perhaps prolonged the conflict.
    As we know, the mandate of the U.N. Commission--High Commission
    on Refugees has a much broader mandate. That mandate is
    actually not just to care for the refugees but to help them
    build new lives. And we also know not only has UNRWA become--in
    UNRWA probably the largest employer in Gaza but UNRWA employees
    participated in the horrendous and grotesque October 7th
    attack. What should happen with UNRWA when this conflict is
    over?
        Ms. Leaf. So look, I think there are a number of important
    investigations that will lay out the course of reform that
    UNRWA should undertake, that the U.N. should ensure that it
    undertake. The question of the mandate I think obviously is
    something for the U.N. General Assembly. It's not something
    that's going to be solved by member states at this point. I
    think the functions that UNRWA has had, the core functions it's
    had in Gaza in particular, there simply hasn't been another
    organization that has done those--taken up those functions.
        Ms. Manning. But has the notion that UNRWA is to provide
    not only food but schooling for the Palestinians, removed that
    fundamental governmental obligation from Hamas?
        Ms. Leaf. No, I think--well, I think what occurred in the
    events of 2007 and what's been the reality since is you've had
    a terrorist organization running that strip of land. And nobody
    could contest that, not the people, not an organization. On the
    other hand, to your question about where do we go from here, we
    have to remember also that UNRWA has these critical functions
    in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and on the West Bank.
        And again, we don't have another organization that can do
    that. And government of Jordan cannot take on all of those
    obligations, nor Syria, nor Lebanon. In any case, I think the
    question of settling the larger question of refugees and in
    every country it really comes back to a political process. And
    that's the answer.
        Ms. Manning. Well, I want to thank you both for all of your
    hard work and your service. And let me close by saying I sure
    wish we were seeing protests against Hamas. Thank you.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Kathy
    Manning. We'll now proceed for our final but very distinguished
    member, Congressman Brad Schneider of Illinois.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Chairman. And just to get some
    things on the record in talking about Gaza, since President
    Biden spoke to Congress 2 months ago, has Israel sought to
    surge aid into Gaza?
        Ms. Leaf. I'm sorry. Did you say have they----
        Mr. Schneider. Has Israel sought to surge more aid into
    Gaza since President Biden spoke to Congress 2 months ago?
        Ms. Leaf. Yes, yes.
        Mr. Schneider. And is Israel working with U.S. and others
    to deconflict distribution of aid within the Gaza strip?
        Ms. Leaf. I'm going to let Jeanne add to my answer. But the
    deconfliction mechanism is inadequate at this time.
        Ms. Pryor. Yes, we continue to work with the Israeli
    government on improving deconfliction and trying to introduce
    best practices from other conflict environments. But a lot of
    work remains to be done.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you. Is Hamas intentionally seeking to
    disrupt aid coming into Gaza and getting throughout Gaza?
        Ms. Leaf. It's seeking to control it where it can. And that
    is--there's also a high degree of lawlessness. But Hamas is an
    actor in that.
        Mr. Schneider. Okay. Let me shift gears and talk to--I like
    the term you used, the other side of the conflict. Is any
    progress being made on an ensuring Hamas isn't able to return
    to control of Gaza after the conflict?
        Ms. Leaf. It's an ongoing effort.
        Mr. Schneider. And in discussing--there's been talk about a
    multinational force in Gaza, countries in the region calling on
    the U.S. to actually put boots on the ground. Is there
    discussion of U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza?
        Ms. Leaf. The President has made clear he has no intention
    of having U.S. forces in Gaza.
        Mr. Schneider. Okay. And again, for you, Ambassador Leaf.
    Can you talk about your bureau, the NEA's role in planning for
    the day after Gaza and a better future for all people in the
    Middle East?
        Ms. Leaf. So in addition to the terrific staff that I am
    privileged to lead in the bureau, I have a set of staff
    dedicated to this proposition and drawn from different sectors
    with different experience. I also rely on several of our
    chiefs-of-mission in the field now who have extensive
    experience on Israel-Palestinian matters.. So we work on this
    on a daily basis. And it is--that team helps provide thinking
    and direction for the Secretary's own engagements.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you. Within the context of looking to
    the future for the region, I asked earlier in my first round
    about U.S. leadership in the region and that commitment. But
    China is also seeking to play a role--a competitive role. Can
    you talk about how you're advocating within State and whether
    SMP or other forums to make sure that we have a comprehensive
    long-term strategy for the broader MENA region vis-a-vis what's
    going on in the world with China and Russia?
        Ms. Leaf. A couple of things about process. Of course we're
    very fortunate to have the expertise at the top of our
    leadership and the Deputy Secretary Kirk Campbell. We also have
    China House.
        We have personnel overseas including in my region who are
    dedicated to the work of looking at China's engagements,
    activities, whether it's in the information space, economic,
    military, what have you. So we have a rich sort of architecture
    for working on these issues. But let me just draw a contrast if
    I could in how the U.S. leads in the region versus what China
    is doing.
        On the fundamental existential issues that confront the
    region, Gaza, Red Sea security, attacks by Iran and its
    proxies, you will see the U.S. leading in all of those domains.
    Whether on the hostage negotiations, on the relief effort for
    Gazan civilians, whether it's on questions that relate to the
    Palestinians in general, you see the U.S. leading on that.
    China has large and growing economic relations.
        China has been missing in action on Red Sea security,
    absolutely missing in action. And it's been missing in action
    on all the other fundamental critical pieces that relate to the
    security and stability of this region, whether it's--and it has
    relations with Iran. But it does not appear to use that
    relationship to any purpose when it comes to constraining Iran
    and its use of its proxies, whether against Israel or against
    anyone else. And by the way, I'm not aware that the PRC has
    ever condemned October 7th.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you. And last as we finish where we
    began, the hostages, there are 128 hostages still in Gaza
    including eight Americans. We know that more than 30 are
    deceased. We assume five of the Americans are still alive.
        We've already mentioned it, but I want to emphasize the
    urgency of rescuing these hostages and doing everything we can
    to rescue all the hostages, including the American eight.
    There's reports of ongoing sexual violence. There was a video
    released yesterday that showed the capture of five of these
    women. And with permission of the chairman, I'd like to be able
    to show that video now.
        Mr. Wilson. Absolutely. Without objection.
        Mr. Schneider. Thank you. I don't know if we can get the
    volume.
        [Video shown.]
        Mr. Schneider. Since there's no volume, I will narrate. But
    this is a video of Hamas terrorists on October 7th. This is
    video taken from the cameras of Hamas found in Gaza by the IDF
    as they were operating in Gaza.
        These are five women soldiers. The video has been edited
    because they're not showing the many dead bodies that are
    included in this film. It's taken over a period of 2 hours.
        And what's heard or being shown in the words is the
    terrorist talking to these women. At one point, it's overheard
    one of the terrorist saying these are prisoners we can
    impregnate. These women are still being held in Gaza.
        I think you can imagine the importance of bringing them
    home. You see in this video horrific images of blood, bloody
    prisoners clearly who have been beaten by their attackers. You
    see him saying, you are so beautiful, to one of the women. The
    terrorist is saying that.
        So the video shows the capture of hostages, an absolute war
    crime, crime against humanity. These women are still being
    held. We assume they are being physically abused, sexually
    abused.
        I had the privilege of seeing Sheryl Sandberg's move
    Silence After Screams. Sexual violence should be condemned
    anywhere. It is unfortunate in this case not only is it being
    ignored, it is being denied. I think you can see from these
    pictures. I hope we do everything we can to get all these
    hostages home as soon as possible, including the American
    eight. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much, Congressman Schneider. And
    it just can't be understated the horror, the barbarism, the
    inhumanity of persons on amphetamines who actually videoed what
    they were doing of the mass slaughter and the sexual attacks on
    women on October 7th. And truly, Madam Secretary, we're talking
    about people in general but also American citizens. Thirty-five
    were murdered and another six I believe have identified as
    being captive.
        With that in mind, I want to thank the witnesses for their
    valuable testimony. I want to thank the dedicated staff of the
    Foreign Affairs Committed and the members for their questions.
        The members of the subcommittee may have some additional
    questions for the witnesses, and we will ask you to respond to
    those in writing. Pursuant to the committee rules, all members
    have 5 days to submit statements, questions, and extraneous
    materials for the record subject to length limitations. Without
    objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 12:18 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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