On Thursday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) stated that we knew there was a possibility that if Israel’s response to the October 7 attack impacted “civilians, folks who were innocent of having anything to do with what Hamas did, that there might be a reaction from Iran or others,” and he’s “hoping that Israel will show restraint right now.”
Castro said, “I think everybody understood that Israel, of course, would respond to the very tragic attack by Hamas. But we also understood that there was a chance that, if Israel also affected civilians, folks who were innocent of having anything to do with what Hamas did, that there might be a reaction from Iran or others, and bear in mind, they’ve already funded terrorist attacks against Israel over the years. And so, this whole thing has been spiraling out of control, unfortunately. And there have been opportunities for ceasefires. … There has been resistance, at times, from both Hamas leadership and also from Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel, whose very personal freedom…could be at stake if he’s no longer prime minister. And so, it’s a very tense situation. I’m hoping that Israel will show restraint right now. I think everybody is glad that Israel’s defensive systems and the assistance from the United States were able to prevent a mass casualty because of those strikes by Iran in Israel. So, I think everybody is grateful that civilian harm was minimized. But I want to make sure that the root cause of what has stirred all of this up, the situation in Gaza, that there is a ceasefire and that the hostages, the Israeli hostages are returned to their families, which those families have been asking for for a long time and that there is a larger ceasefire and a lasting peace.”
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