WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., mentioned in an interview on NBC Information’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believes there isn’t a manner for Israel to soundly negotiate an finish to the conflict with Hamas and that Israel would take over Gaza, evaluating the transfer to U.S. actions on the finish of World Conflict II.
Graham mentioned he believed Israel has concluded “that they’ll’t obtain a aim of ending the conflict with Hamas that will be passable to the protection of Israel.”
“I feel President Trump has come to imagine, and I definitely have come to imagine, there’s no manner you’re going to barter an finish of this conflict with Hamas,” Graham mentioned.
“They’re going to do in Gaza what we did in Tokyo and Berlin, take the place by power and begin over once more, presenting a greater future for the Palestinians, hopefully having the Arabs take over the West Financial institution and Gaza,” he later added.
His feedback come as Israel is dealing with mounting worldwide strain over a rising starvation disaster in Gaza, the place at the least 133 individuals have died by hunger, in accordance with the Gaza Well being Ministry. On Sunday, Israel introduced a pause in combating in elements of Gaza to facilitate support supply.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has beforehand mentioned that Israel was “shifting towards full management” of Gaza. Ceasefire discussions have stalled in latest days, and the White Home’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff final week introduced dwelling the U.S. negotiating workforce, which had been collaborating in talks in Qatar.
Requested whether or not a takeover of Gaza would imply hostages wouldn’t come dwelling alive, Graham mentioned, “I hope not.”
“I feel there are individuals perhaps within the Hamas group that will settle for protected passage in the event that they launch the hostages,” Graham mentioned. “If I had been Israel, I’d make that supply to Hamas fighters: ‘You possibly can depart safely. We would like our hostages again.’”
Graham continues advocating for particular counsel to analyze Obama claims
Graham on Sunday advocated for a particular counsel to analyze Republicans’ claims that President Barack Obama tried to affect an intelligence evaluation about Russian interference within the 2016 election.
These claims got here to the fore final week when Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard alleged throughout a press briefing that the previous president participated in a “treasonous conspiracy” to hurt Trump’s marketing campaign.
Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush has mentioned that the “weird allegations are ridiculous and a weak try at distraction.” NBC Information has additionally reported that former CIA officer Susan Miller, who helped lead the workforce that produced a report on Russia’s actions in the course of the 2016 election, defended the report and mentioned the White Home was “mendacity” about it.
Graham mentioned Sunday that “the easiest way to deal with that is if there’s proof of a criminal offense being dedicated, or suspected proof of a criminal offense being dedicated, create a particular counsel to have a look at it.”
A particular counsel had beforehand been appointed in the course of the first Trump administration to look at the origins of the Russia probe, and in 2023, then-special counsel John Durham argued that sure FBI personnel “displayed a severe lack of analytical rigor towards the data they acquired.”
A 2020 Senate report backed up the evaluation that Russia interfered within the 2016 presidential election, with the then-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, a Republican, saying: “The Committee discovered no purpose to dispute the Intelligence Neighborhood’s conclusions.”
In latest days, critics have accused Republicans of making an attempt to show the highlight on Obama to distract from mounting criticism of the White Home’s dealing with of recordsdata associated to Jeffrey Epstein.
Requested whether or not he was making an attempt to rewrite historical past to distract from the Epstein information, Graham mentioned: “On the finish of the day, I’m not calling for prosecution towards President Obama for treason, however I’m calling for an investigation.”
