Virginia Dem Moran: Hamas Rockets are 'Fairly Feckless'

A Virginia congressman characterized the rockets being fired into Israel by Hamas as “fairly feckless,” pointing to “too many” Palestinian deaths as the problem.

“Well, Israel has the overwhelming support of the American Congress. There are a few of us who feel that, you know, a cease-fire is the only way to go, and it’s in Israel’s, as well as the Palestinians’ interest to have a cease-fire,” Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said on MSNBC last night.

“Lives are of value. And there are going to be too many innocent Palestinians killed in this. I don’t think that there are going to be many Israelis. We have helped Israel secure the Iron Dome. And really these rockets that have been fired from the Gaza Strip, they’re fairly feckless. I mean, they fall in land that is generally unoccupied, but nevertheless, they are a threat. And I suspect if Hamas could kill people with them, they certainly would,” Moran said.

The Israeli Defense Forces reported this morning that a rocket fell on a house in Ashkelon.

“But Israel clearly has the capacity to kill more Gazans and I think they will as long as rockets continue to be fired from the Gaza Strip,” Moran said. “So, a cease-fire seems to be in everyone’s interest. The fact is Israel only generates more hatred, not just from Hamas, but the Arab and Muslim community throughout the world, I suspect with what’s going on, with the possible exception of Egypt, perhaps.”

“And certainly from the Palestinian standpoint, they’re going to continue to lose lives and many of them are going to be innocent women and children,” he added.

Hamas rejected a cease-fire agreement offered by the Egyptians today even though the Israeli cabinet accepted the plan.

Israel, Moran argued, “can’t kill all of the people in the Gaza and they can’t eliminate Hamas. They can certainly teach them a lesson and their objective is long-term stability in Gaza. I’m not sure that’s going to be achieved when you have as many deaths as has occurred from this recent conflict.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the congressman added, isn’t “going to be the prime minister of Israel forever.”

“At some point, there has to be a two-state solution or you’re going to have this revenge of the cradle where the demographics are going to prevent Israel from being able to have one state that elects a democratic government that isn’t Palestinian, because the Palestinian growth rate is so much greater than Israel’s growth rate. So, they need a two-state solution.”