On Thursday’s edition of NBC’s “MTP Daily,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) stated that if he had the choice, he’d do what President Joe Biden has said he would do and withhold 2,000-pound bombs to Israel if they don’t follow American advice on invading Rafah, but acknowledged that Israel would need such weapons to defend against an incursion from Iran or Hezbollah.
Meeks said, “I think the messages are clear and consistent. On the one hand, the message is, 2,000-pound bombs in a dense neighborhood should not be utilized because of the collateral damage and the innocent lives that would be lost as a result of that powerful bomb, that there’s a way to go after Hamas, and the way to do it is with different type[s] of weapons, like tanks and ground mortars…what you would do in urban warfare. So, it is, let’s go after Hamas and get Hamas, but let’s do it in a way that we minimize innocent lives lost, which will take place if you utilize a 2,000-pound bomb.”
He added that the message that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should get the message that “he’s not going to be allowed — or get any more of those bombs, if, in fact, he does not listen.”
Meeks further stated, “I would do just what the President has done, I probably wouldn’t clear 2,000-pound bombs, especially if they’re being utilized in dense areas like Rafah. Now, on the other hand, I do want Israel to have 2,000-pound bombs should there be an incursion by Iran or Hezbollah. And that’s where there’s one instance where we’re talking about specifically [a] dense area, the Palestinians in Gaza or in Rafah, it’s a whole different situation, as we saw with the 300 drones and rockets that were sent over from Iran. So, we’ve got to make sure and the President has been clear that we are with Israel to defend itself, especially against Iran and Hezbollah and we’re with them to get Hamas in Gaza, but there [are] two different types of weapons that will be utilized for each.”
He also said, “[T]he President has said, the consequences [are] that the weapons that are utilized, if they’re not using the weapons in the appropriate way, then they don’t get them. That’s what the President said. But if you do, still, under any circumstance, the 2,000-pound bombs are not going to be utilized and should not be…given by the United States for utilization in Rafah or Gaza.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
