In an interview published on Monday, Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, expressed her belief that Benjamin Netanyahu, the duly elected prime minister of Israel, should step down from his position. Pelosi attributed her statement to Netanyahu’s decision to defend his country against the invasion by Hamas forces in October. She further highlighted the recent resignation of the intelligence chief of the Israel Defense Forces, which she linked to failures surrounding the Hamas-led attack on October 7.
“We recognize Israel’s right to protect itself. We reject the policy and the practice of Netanyahu — terrible. What could be worse than what he has done in response?” Pelosi announced. “He should resign. He’s ultimately responsible,” she added. “I don’t know whether he’s afraid of peace, incapable of peace, or just doesn’t want peace. But he has been an obstacle to the two-state solution.”
NBC reported:
“Earlier this month, Pelosi joined more than three dozen members of Congress who signed a letter urging President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “reconsider” a recent decision to authorize a new arms package transfer to Israel. The lawmakers had called for the U.S. to withhold future arms transfers until it completes a full investigation into the airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers this month. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to local health officials. The Israeli government has said that about 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, with about 250 hostages taken, though it’s unclear how many are still alive.”
It is also uncertain the number of Palestinians who were Hamas fighters or were being exploited by Hamas fighters as human shields, a practice that is reportedly common in the region, as stated by various sources such as the Washington Post.
“Hamas does use civilians as shields, and it is crucial to understand that fact. As a Nov. 5 Post editorial observed, the group ‘has consciously exposed noncombatants to danger by provoking Israel militarily — while protecting its own leaders and fighters in tunnels,’” the Post said in an op-ed. “In 2014, The Post reported that al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, now the site of Israeli-Hamas fighting, ‘has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.’”
It added: “This Hamas practice is not new, and neither are efforts to distract from it with spurious claims of racism.”
The op-ed continued:
“This war tactic poses agonizing moral dilemmas for anyone concerned about protecting civilian lives. But Hamas itself makes no bones about how it fights Israel. One official of the terrorist group, Moussa Abu Marzook, recently stressed that Gaza’s tunnel network is for protecting Hamas fighters and declared the United Nations responsible for protecting Gazan civilians. Khaled Meshal, a Hamas leader, explained his openness to mass Palestinian death in pursuit of Hamas’s political aims, saying that millions were killed during the Vietnam War and other guerrilla conflicts.”
“The group has guns and rockets and antitank weapons, but not F-16s or precision-guided munitions. If its fighters squared off against the IDF in the open desert, they would be annihilated swiftly. But the deterrent effect of human shields is powerful. It’s one reason Israel never tried to destroy the terrorist group despite its attacks until the scale of its butchery on Oct. 7 left leaders in Jerusalem no choice,” the op-ed noted further.