[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13969-13970]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 537--REAFFIRMING SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO DEFEND 
 ITS CITIZENS AND ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, AND FOR 
                             OTHER PURPOSES

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

                              S. Res. 537

       Whereas, on July 17, 2014, the Senate unanimously passed a 
     resolution supporting Israel's right to defend its citizens 
     and ensure the survival of the State of Israel, condemning 
     the actions of Hamas, and calling for the President of the 
     Palestinian Authority to dissolve the unity government 
     arrangement with Hamas;
       Whereas, on July 29, 2014, the Senate unanimously passed a 
     resolution condemning Hamas's terrorist actions and use of 
     civilians as human shields and condemning the United Nations 
     Human Right Council's resolution of July 23, 2014;

[[Page 13970]]

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

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