Mike Quigley Asks Secretary Marco Rubio What 'Consequences' Israel Will Face If Aid Does Not Reach Palestinians

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) spoke about US pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Quigley, you're recognized, sir.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

00:04I appreciate your comments last week.

00:06You said the U.S. is troubled by the humanitarian situation in Gaza, echoing, in some respects,

00:12the words of our new Pope, Pope Leo, that it is calling the situation in the Palestinian

00:19enclave yet more worrying and saddening, quote, I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the

00:24entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring the aid to the hostilities, the devastating

00:28price which is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick.

00:31I know your heart's in the right place on that, and you stated that the engagement from the

00:36U.S. and other countries, Israel has started to allow that aid to reenter.

00:41We were talking about a hundred trucks we're hearing reports entering yesterday, far fewer

00:47than the 600 during the ceasefire per day, but that the aid is still not, even from that

00:53hundred trucks, is still not getting through to the Palestinians.

00:57What further diplomatic efforts are we going to do?

01:02And what are the benchmarks?

01:03What are we telling Israel that has to happen?

01:07And what are we saying the consequences are, if any, if it doesn't happen?

01:12Yeah, thank you for that question.

01:14That's a very serious and important question, and I want to answer it here.

01:17And I'm not trying to filibuster where you deserve the answer to it.

01:20Obviously, Israel is a key ally of the United States, and so we are always careful about

01:25what we say publicly about the nature of our conversations with them.

01:30But I think they've acknowledged in their own statement that due to the intervention of

01:33the United States and others is the reason why they've started to allow aid, albeit, as

01:37you've pointed out, not at the levels that are necessary.

01:40I can tell you I was in Rome this weekend on, was it Saturday, and I met with Cindy McCain

01:45at the World Food Program just to get a better understanding of the systems they have set up

01:49for distribution and what amount of aid is ready to move in.

01:54And we've been engaged constantly.

01:55Obviously, I've been on the Hill all day, but I know members of our team, and this includes

01:59Mr. Witkoff, our special envoy and ambassador on the topic, has been working on that as well

02:04to ensure that additional aid is provided to people there.

02:07Because, as we said, we were concerned about the conditions and the directions that they were headed.

02:11I think, ultimately, what we would like to see is for this to end.

02:14For all the hostages to come home, all of them, including those who are deceased,

02:19but their families deserve to have that closure, and we're committed to that as well.

02:22And I've said this a number of times in the past, so I don't want to get ahead of myself

02:29or over my skis, but I have some level of optimism that we may have breakthrough achievements here

02:35pretty quickly, hopefully, on an end to this and the release of all the hostages.

02:42Again, I have felt that way now at least four separate times in the last couple of months,

02:46and for one reason or another, at the last minute, it didn't happen.

02:49And so I don't want to be disappointed on it again, but I want you to know there are efforts ongoing

02:53to both provide more humanitarian assistance and bring about the end to this conflict as it's ongoing.

03:00Because, frankly, you can't begin to provide the lives that the people who live there deserve,

03:05free of Hamas, until that ends.

03:08And agreed as to the issue with hostages and that Israel has every right to defend itself,

03:15but the manner in which they conduct the war has consequences as well for the safety of Israel in the meantime.

03:22So beyond just the talk and the diplomatic efforts, and I know you don't want to reveal negotiations,

03:31but there has to be at least some framework of benchmarks in which we're talking to the Israelis

03:37about what, at the bare minimum, has to happen on the humanitarian side with at least some repercussions.

03:44And we hear from our allies who are talking about sanctions, but at the very least we have to have some sense

03:50that the U.S. is in this beyond just please would you do this because it's the right thing to do.

03:56Well, I would say that our conversations are more substantive than just please do this,

04:00because it's a nice thing to do, obviously.

04:02Again, Israel, we support 100%.

04:05Their right not just to defend themselves, but to protect themselves from Hamas.

04:09Frankly, we can't have a future for the people of Gaza.

04:12There can't be a future that's prosperous and safe as long as Hamas or any group like Hamas is governing it.

04:18And there's a lot of work to be done post-conflict in that regard.

04:22But in the interim period, the one thing we've made abundantly clear is that the humanitarian situation,

04:28and I think this was acknowledged by the Prime Minister in his statement,

04:31the humanitarian situation in the direction that it was headed was undermining Israel's standing in national security.

04:38And so we've had these conversations in a frank manner.

04:40I don't want to characterize them or go further because, again, they're an important ally.

04:44And I also don't want to imperil the work that's being done both to bring a permanent end to that conflict,

04:50but also to get the aid in an increased and timely manner.

04:54It's in both countries' interests. It's in the Palestinian and Israelis' interests that there is a long-term agreement

05:01that allows both to exist peacefully with some security assurances for both.

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