Rep. Beth Van Duyne, commenting on Newsmax on Saturday after Israeli authorities recalled its team of negotiators from Qatar, said that the move backs up Israel's stance that the war must continue and Hamas must be destroyed.
The full-out war started between the two sides on Oct. 7, when Hamas invaded Israel, the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "Saturday Report," adding that if anything, its actions during this past week's cease-fire show it can't be trusted.
Saturday, the Israeli negotiators were removed from Qatar after they reached a "dead end" in the talks to release more of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, a statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said, reports CNN.
The cease-fire lasted about seven days before it collapsed Friday. Israel has accused Hamas of firing rockets in violation of the temporary truce.
"It backs up the leaders in Israel with what they've been saying, that Hamas has to be destroyed," Van Duyne said. "Without question ... they are evil."
The United States must also fully support Israel and make sure it has the resources necessary to fight Hamas, she added.
"They're not asking for a lot, but they [need] the resources necessary to be able to come in and destroy this enemy whose chief function, whose ultimate goal, is to wipe Israel off the map," Van Duyne said. "That's what it has been very clear. They are using civilians to hide behind. They have been given every opportunity to allow innocent people to leave. They won't do it because they're hiding behind them."
Hamas, she continued, "are terrorists in the worst way possible. And Israel's focus is to get rid of them, which will benefit the entire planet. We should be supporting them, not asking for a cease-fire. Can you imagine if we'd asked for a cease-fire the day after 9/11 ... When evil happens, you have to crush it before it's allowed to expand."
The congresswoman also discussed the recent release of footage from the Jan. 6, 2021 incidents at the Capitol, and said it reveals what had happened that day, rather than the footage shown by the committee investigating the events.
"They had their agenda already decided when they decided to put this committee together," she said. "The tapes that they released, the testimony that they released, was so overly orchestrated to make one point, but there was a lot that happened that day."
Nobody wants people who were breaking windows and attacking officers to go unpunished, Van Duyne said, "but the vast majority" of those there went to have their voices heard because they were upset about the result of the presidential election, and it was their constitutional right to protest.
"The continued narrative of that is as if it was some kind of an all-out war that was going to transform and threaten our democracy," she said. "That is not what happened."
The congresswoman on Saturday also discussed the push to impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and said she thinks there will be action taken "over the first quarter of next year."
"I have been asking for the last two years for Mayorkas to be impeached," she said. "Not only has he had a complete dereliction of duty, but he's also lied to Congress."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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