00:00Thank you, Undersecretary, for your testimony and for being here today.
00:05What's happening in Gaza is a horror of mass starvation, mass murder,
00:11and even a plan for ethnic cleansing that Americans are helping to pay for.
00:16Every day brings us fresh horrors of starving children,
00:20in fact, some of them starving to the bone,
00:22civilians killed by snipers while they seek out food,
00:26and entire families wiped out by the IDF.
00:31And as I mentioned, and as you know, Americans are helping to pay for it.
00:37I wanted to ask you what the Trump administration's plan is to stop it.
00:42As we in the world witnesses these horrors, what is your plan to stop it?
00:49Representative Castro, thank you for your question and for allowing me to respond.
00:55When we talk about Israel-Gaza, I think it's important to remember two specific things.
01:02First, this situation started on October 7th when Hamas invaded Israel
01:08and killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, in the most heinous and barbaric ways.
01:16Second, I think we should also emphasize that Hamas could end this conflict today.
01:21It could put down their arms, they could return the hostages.
01:25Certainly you're not suggesting...
01:27Hold on, I'm going to reclaim my time for a second.
01:29You're not suggesting that those five- and six-year-old kids have any control over what Hamas does, are you?
01:35In fact, those folks in Hamas, the people who make up Hamas,
01:38many of them are hidden away in tunnels or out of Gaza
01:42and are not the ones who are being subjected to these bombs and missiles and starvation and so forth.
01:47What I was going to say, Congressman, was that we mourn the loss of any civilian life,
01:53whether that's Israeli, Palestinian, whomever.
01:56And that's why we're focused on achieving a ceasefire.
02:00It's the laser focus of President Trump and of this administration.
02:04Well, Undersecretary, I guess I want to tell you, just for a second,
02:07I want to tell you when Anthony Blinken sat where you're sitting in December, I believe,
02:13I told him that I was disappointed with how the Biden administration approached this
02:19and that we didn't do enough during that time to stop these horrors.
02:25And I will say the same thing to you as part of the Trump administration,
02:29that our government is not doing enough.
02:31We have all on this dais called out Hamas for the horrors of October 7th.
02:38We have labeled them even before this as terrorists and penalized nations or anyone who has associated with them.
02:45But what actions have we taken against Benjamin Netanyahu's government for the horrors that they've committed?
02:52What are the consequences for their action?
02:54Thank you, Congressman.
02:57What I was going to say was that we're very focused on achieving a ceasefire and delivering humanitarian assistance.
03:03As you may be aware, and I think there was some press reporting overnight,
03:06that Special Envoy Whitcoff is going to be leading the engagement.
03:11He's headed to the region right now to work to finalize the aid corridor and reach a ceasefire.
03:17So you asked what we're doing.
03:20That's one of the things we're doing is Special Envoy Whitcoff will be traveling to the region to work on this issue.
03:26Let me raise another issue with you because Israeli settlers in the West Bank
03:30attacked the Palestinian Christian village of Taipei, setting fire to a cemetery and a 5th century church.
03:38U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who's been a very strong supporter of Israel,
03:42called the attack, quote, an act of terror
03:44and that they should be, quote, found and prosecuted, not just reprimanded, unquote.
03:49He similarly described the lynching of Palestinian-American from Tampa, Florida,
03:54Saifola Musalet, by Israeli settlers in the West Bank as, quote,
03:58a criminal and terrorist act.
04:01That's two acts of terrorism within weeks by the same group of people, Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
04:08I want to ask you, will the United States be pursuing independent investigations
04:12into these terrorist attacks by Israeli settlers?
04:16Thank you, Congressman.
04:17I understand that the IDF is investigating incidents.
04:21Will the United States government launch an investigation into these attacks?
04:25And as I said, Special Envoy Whitcoff is traveling to the region,
04:28and it's very much in President Trump's interests and his objective to reach stability in the region.
04:35He's working on ceasefires.
04:36Will you guys commit to an independent United States investigation into these attacks?
04:40Thank you for asking that question.
04:43I don't have an answer for you at this moment,
04:46but I've provided you with an answer to your question on what we've been doing on this issue
04:51and how we're working towards a ceasefire.
04:59I yield back.
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