Ted Deutch: “I thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel and especially Chairman Ros-Lehtinen for her partnership in this effort…”

“I thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel and especially Chairman Ros-Lehtinen for her partnership in this effort to call the world's attention to Hamas' use of innocent civilians as human shields. I also thank Casey Kustin of my staff, Eddy Acevedo of Chairman Ros-Lehtinen's staff, and the committee staff as well, for bringing this important resolution to the floor. Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and I were in Israel the night that the world learned the tragic fate of the three Israeli teens: Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali. We mourned with the families and tens of thousands of others at their joint funeral, and we were there just days later when 16-year- old Mohammed Abu Khdeir was brutally and tragically murdered. In the wake of these heartbreaking deaths, violence escalated when Hamas began indiscriminately launching rockets at Israel, with the sole purpose of causing terror and death. Israel responded. Every civilian death is tragic. We continue to mourn the loss of innocent lives on both sides of this conflict, but we cannot forget how this started, and we cannot forget who is responsible. It is Hamas that has chosen to launch 2,600 rockets at civilians. It is Hamas that hides rockets and rocket launchers in UNRA schools, in mosques, and even in hospitals, using the Palestinian people as cover for their weapon stockpiles and their rocket launchers.…”