Rep. Dan Goldman, After Return from Israel, Says Hamas “Must Be Eradicated”

Congressman Dan Goldman, who was in Israel with his family when Hamas breached the Gaza border and killed 1,400 men, women and children in Israel in brutal fashion, says that Hamas is a terrorist organization that “needs to be eradicated.”

”It was a harrowing experience,” he said on the ABC Sunday morning talk show “Upclose” with Bill Ritter, recalling his time in Israel at the time of the attack on Oct. 7. “Obviously, very difficult to explain what was going on to my three young children who were with me. But it just pales in comparison to what the families in southern Israel had had to endure. Just the brutality and absolute atrocity of what Hamas did to innocent families, children, grandparents, concert goers celebrating peace.”

He continued, “It is beyond tragic, but it is also a clarion call that Hamas is a terrorist organization that has one interest and one alone, which is to eliminate Jews and to eliminate Israel. And that is not a partner that believes in peace. And so Hamas, given the horrific attack, is a terrorist organization like ISIS and Al-Queda, and it needs to be eradicated.”

Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential hopeful and former US ambassador to the United Nations under Donald Trump said that only half the Palestinian population in Gaza would like to see Hamas gone. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday she told host Jake Tapper: “You’ve got half of them at the time that I was there didn’t want to be under Hamas’s rule. They didn’t want to have terrorists overseeing them. The other half supported Hamas and wanted to be a part of that.”

“There are so many of these people who want to be free from this terrorist rule,” she said. “They want to be free from all of that. And America has always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists.”

Goldman in the interview with Ritter said, “Well look, increasingly, Hamas has gained power within the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian people will be much better off if Hamas is dismantled. Their sole focus is on terror, and they have redirected funds that have gone to the people in Gaza to their own terror network.

”So this, the silver lining perhaps is that if Hama is eliminated and dismantled and removed from power, that there may actually be a pathway towards peace for the Palestinian people to live next to and in concert with Israel.”

He added, “But as long as Hamas is there, there is no chance for peace. And that’s why after this horrific terrorist attack where they showed their true colors, they need to be eradicated. And then we need to rebuild the Gaza strip with a new government that believes in peace.”

The United Nations is warning that Israel’s push to force over 1.2 million people to leave northern Gaza and head south while it cuts off water and electricity in northern Gaza is creating a massive humanitarian crisis. Ritter asked Goldman what he thinks is the next step for Israel.

”How do you separate the people of Gaza from Hama physically?” Ritter asked. “How do you do it when they’re shooting rifles, shooting guns, shooting troops, that tanks are over there and a lot of people are dying. When does it stop.?”

Goldman responded, “Well, it’s incredibly troubling and it is something that we in Congress are dealing with on a daily basis. I’ve been speaking to the administration every day trying to figure out how to minimize any collateral damage to innocent civilians.”

Palestinian authorities have said that more than 2,600 people have died from Israeli air strikes. Among the dead are several leaders who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks, according to reports.