HRES 951 IH110th CONGRESS2d SessionH. RES. 951Condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, and for other purposes.IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJanuary 29, 2008MrEH
H
. GARRETT of New Jersey (for himself, MrRes. ENGEL, Mr
951
In the House of Representatives, U. HENSARLING, and MsS.BERKLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTIONCondemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, and for other purposes,
March 5, 2008.
Whereas more than 4,000 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other terrorist organizations since Israeli forces withdrew from there in 2005;
Whereas, since January 1, 2008, terrorists have fired more than 420nearly a thousand rockets and mortar shells into Israel;
Whereas the near-daily rocket fire has been targeted primarily and intentionally at civilian communities in Israel, such as Sderot and Ashkelon, making life in such areas agonizing;
Whereas the terrorist rockets have hit homes, schools, buildings, roads, power lines, and other such infrastructure in Israel;
Whereas these rocket attacks have forced Israel to suffer dozens of casualties,unprovoked rocket and mortar attacks have murdered over a dozen Israelis, inflicted hundreds of shock victims,casualties, produced thousands of traumatizedcases of shock and post-traumatic stress, especially among children, and caused severe disruption of daily life;
Whereas military intelligence reports indicate that the rockets used in the attacks on Israel are made in Iran and oftthese deliberate cross-border rocket and mortar attacks on civilian populations constitute a blatant violation of human rights and international law;
Whereas those responsible for launching rocket attacks against Israel routinely embed their production facilities and launch sites amongst the Palestinian civilian population, utilizing them as human shields;
Whereas intentionally targeting civilian populations and the use of human shields violates international humanitarian and human rights law;
Whereas numerous reports have cited the copious amounts of sophisticated weapons, small arms, and weapons manufacturing materials that have been smuggled into Gaza through Egypt;
Whereas Haaretz hpublic reports have cited the role of Iran and Syria in providing material support and training to those carrying out rocket and other terrorist attacks from Gaza;
Whereas public reports have referenced the increased flow of ammunition, explosives, and higher-grade weapons into the Gaza Strip as a result of Hamas' breach of the 12-kilometer security fence separating Gaza from Egyptian Sinai on January 23, 2008;
Whereas it was reported that no fewer than 1,650 rockets and 6,000 bombs, as well as millions of bullets for light weapons and tons of potassium for manufacturing bombs, were smuggled into after the breach of the Egyptian-Gaza through Egypt in 2007 alone; andWhereas the launching of thborder, many Palestinian terrorists who had trained in Syria and Iran returned to Gaza;
Whereas the fielding and use of longer-range rockets by Hamas and other terrorist organizations to reach larger Israeli cities represents a dangerous expansion of the organizations' offensive capabilities and an escalation of the terrorist attacks on Israel;
Whereas the Government of Israel's military operations in Gaza only target Hamas and other terrorist organizations;
Whereas the inadvertent inflicting of civilian casualties as a result of defensive military operations aimed at military targets, while deeply regrettable, is made possible largelynot at all morally equivalent to the deliberate targeting of civilian populations as practiced by technical expertise provided by the Iranian and Syrian GovernmentsHamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups; and
Whereas the situation in the Gaza Strip remains a threat to international security and regional stability: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the ongoing Iranian-enabled rocket attacks onstrongly condemns--
(A) Hamas, which controls Gaza, and other Palestinian terrorist organizations for the ongoing rocket attacks on Israeli civilians;(2 and continued human rights violations;
(B) state sponsors of terror, such as Iran and Syria, for enabling Palestinian terrorist organizations to carry out attacks against innocent Israeli civilians; and
(C) the use of innocent Palestinian civilians as human shields by those who carry out rocket and other attacks;
(2) expresses condolences to the families of the innocent victims on both sides of the conflict;
(3) supports the sovereign right of the Government of Israel to defend its territory and stop the rocket attacks on its citizens;(3) recognizes the difficult balance Israel faces as the competing pressures of being the primary supplier of numerous necessities for Palestinian civilians, such as fuel, electricity, and medicine, even while rockets are being fired at Israel from Palestinian areas;(4) supportsgainst attacks;
(4) expresses sympathy and support for innocent Palestinian civilians who reject Hamas and all forms of terrorism, desiring and desire to live in peace with their Israeli neighbors;(5) places responsibility for launching the rocket attacks on Hamas and other terrorist organizations, such as Islamic Jihad, in Gaza;(6) regards these rocket attacks but who continue to be utilized as human shields by terrorist organizations;
(5) considers rocket attacks against Israel and the fostering of terrorism in the Palestinian territories as direct hindrances to the peace process in the region;(7) recognizes that the rocket attacks against Israel would not be possible without the material support of the Governments of Iran and Syria;(8) calls oand serious impediments to the achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace;
(6) calls on the President to--
(A) direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to introduce a resolution within the United Nations Security Council condemning Palestinian rocket and other attacks against innocent Israeli civilians; and
(B) direct the Secretary of State to raise this issue in all nations, including Egypt, to take affirmative, transparent, verifiable steps to stop the flow of rockets and other terrorism-enabling materials (including human resources) to the Palestinian territories; and(9applicable bilateral and international fora;
(7) calls on responsible countries and United States allies in the Middle East to officially and publicly condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and other terrorist actions against Israel; and
(8) reaffirms the strong and unyielding friendship between the gGovernments and the people of Israel and the United States.
U.S. Congress - Text of H.Res.951 as Engrossed in House Condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and oth...
