As the humanitarian situation in Gaza has increased and more Americans have been urging their leaders to pressure Israel to halt its attacks. However, Sen. Lisa Murkowski hasn’t budged from her support for Israel.
She was the center of interest for members of the American Palestinian Women’s Association and other groups of women who support a ceasefire that went to Hart Senate Office Building Hart Senate Office Building last week, and urged female senators to be particularly.
“They claimed that they were motherhood mothers of Palestine who were telling their experiences,” Murkowski said of the visitors.
Murkowski opened a binder of white that they had left for her. She flicked through pages after pages of photographs of Palestinian children.
“Beautiful beautiful, beautiful kids who tragically lost everything,” they said. “And you can’t see faces like these and not feel a sense of profound sorrow and loss. It would be a crime If we thought differently.”
Murkowski closed the binder, and puts it back on the work table at her desk.
Like many members of Congress as well as members of the Israeli Government, Murkowski maintains that Israel has the right in its defense. On October. 7 Hamas militants massacred around 1200 Israelis and then took hostages with returning to Gaza. Israel has responded by launching attacks on the ground and air which have claimed the lives of an estimated 13,000 Gazans.
Murkowski stated that Hamas’ actions aren’t morally comparable because Hamas intentionally targeted civilians.
“I was approached by a number of people regarding my support for ceasefire. The photo I have at my work desk of Abigail who is 3 years older,” she said. “And Abigail is a hostage.”
Murkowski was holding an unframed photo of a child who had curly locks: Abigail Mor Idan, an American and Israeli citizen. Terrorists murdered her parents on in October. 7 and then took her away. Murkowski visited the aunt of Abigail’s couple of weeks in the past. Murkowski keeps Abigail’s picture on her desk to remind herself she is aware that Hamas — along with other terrorist groups in Gaza -are believed to continue to hold more than 240 hostages.
Murkowski puts the blame for the destruction and deaths of the country on Hamas and its blatant disregard for civilian lives. She repeats the claims of Israel has been saying for weeks: that Hamas constructed tunnels and command posts beneath hospitals.
“These facilities were built over the course of months or even years, with the knowledge that they could come to the time they need the innocent sick who are just newborns in incubators – they’d need them to serve to serve as human shields,” Murkowski said.
Israel recently concentrated its efforts specifically on al-Shifa Hospital, saying it has an Hamas command post, an assertion that Hamas and hospital personnel do not deny. Hamas claims Israel of war crimes by destroying hospitals and other infrastructures for civilians.
Although she’s not a part of the demand for a cease-fire, Murkowski declares she wants to see more aid being delivered to Gaza and she’d like to see an evacuation route that is safe for all civilians.
