Securing the release of the hostages held in Gaza is a top priority, Rep. Jared Moskowitz told ABC News "This Week" on Sunday.
The Florida Democrat spoke following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a bipartisan delegation together with Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.
Moskowitz said he did not want to go into the details about the discussions because there "are potentially ongoing talks and negotiations" about the hostages, adding that "there are nine Americans missing that are potentially hostage" among the some 240 overall being held in Gaza.
He said, however, that "there are not a lot of good options. The hostages are in a number of places. Some are in the tunnels. Some are not in the tunnels."
Moskowitz added that one of the factors complicating the fate of the hostages is that some of them may not be held by Hamas, or even by Islamic Jihad, but are in the hands of ordinary residents of Gaza who also invaded Israel during the massacre on Oct. 7.
Lawler said that the delegation saw "raw footage of the attacks of Oct. 7, which was deeply disturbing to all of us and very upsetting," adding that "we engaged in a very thoughtful conversation about the need for Congress to pass aid to Israel and our support and our commitment to our closest ally in the region, a beacon of hope and freedom and democracy, the state of Israel."
Lawler said, "We need to eliminate Hamas. They are a terrorist organization. They used their own civilians as human shields. The purpose of our delegation trip here is to show our strong support in a bipartisan fashion for the state of Israel."
The New York Republican stressed that those calling for a cease-fire "totally misunderstand the situation here. Hamas is not someone, some organization that is going to abide by a cease-fire. They are hellbent on eradicating the state of Israel and eliminating the Jewish people.
"You're not dealing with rational, reasonable people here. And, you know, Israel needs to be able to defend itself. Nobody would call on the United States to engage in a cease-fire after Sept. 11, 2001. And I think it's irresponsible for us to call on Israel to do that when they're trying to defend themselves."
Lawler added that "we need to provide humanitarian relief, and we want to avoid civilian casualties" in Gaza, but that the oppressor here, the people that are responsible for the deaths in Gaza is Hamas."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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