S.Res. 537 — Introduced in Senate

III 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 537 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES August 1, 2014 Mr. Graham (for himself and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Reaffirming support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel, and for other purposes. 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 Rights Council’s resolution of July 23, 2014; 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 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.