Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee flew to Israel this week to take a closer look at the aftermath of the fighting between Israel and Palestine that lasted 11 days and left over 200 people dead. Sen. Cruz took to social media to share "heartbreaking" images of a home in southern Israel, where he said a "Hamas rocket killed the caretaker of the elderly lady" who resided in the Ashkelon house he visited.
"Hamas has committed a double war crime," Sen. Cruz said in a video posted to Twitter, as reported by the Western Journal (via WND). "It uses civilian human shields, including journalists and journalists' buildings, to fire at civilians."
Heartbreaking.
Countless times, I've seen a Mezuzah hanging on a door frame. This is the first time I've seen one on a home bombed by terrorists.
A Hamas rocket killed the caretaker of the elderly lady who lived here in Ashkelon, in southern Israel. This is all that remains. pic.twitter.com/fHBJGFOnRx
"” Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 31, 2021
Last month, Israel bombed a building in the Gaza Strip where the Hamas militant group was believed to have infiltrated and used the media as a human shield. Israel also used the Iron Dome to defend itself from Hamas rockets launched during the conflict.
The Times of Israel reported that Sen. Cruz is now calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to show the same strength that Israel did towards the Hamas militant group. He argued that the Democrat leader's policies, including his call for peace, "emboldened" the militant groups.
"The longer Joe Biden shows weakness to Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran, the more you're going to see terrorist attacks escalating," Sen. Cruz argued after he visited Israel's Iron Dome rocket-defense system and examined the damage in Ashkelon.
Just last week, the Texas senator introduced a legislation that fast tracks the sale of $735 million worth of precision-guided weapons to Israel, a law that was immediately blocked by Democrats, Insider reported.
Sen. Cruz said in a statement on May 26 that it was unfortunate how "Democrats in both the House and the Senate are choosing to pacify their anti-Israel base by opposing this critical support," Insider reported. The Texas senator called on the Democrats to "choose a side and support this commonsense resolution voicing Congressional approval for these two sales."
Newsweek reported that Sen. Cruz met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he reiterated the "strong and unequivocal support" of the U.S. amidst these "perilous times." He said that the U.S. will continue to "stand up to Hamas terrorists" and fight to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who was also on the trip, took to Twitter to share similar images of devastation in Israel, saying that in Ashkelon, they only had 30 seconds to evacuate before 500 Hamas rockets rained down on the Israelis. Sen. Graham then met with the Israeli Prime Minister, who called the senator a "loyal supporter of our alliance."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has now met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry to discuss continued ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group, with Shoukry asking Israel to "refrain from all practices that lead to escalation," DW reported.
