H. Res. 951 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

March 5, 2008. 

Whereas more than 4,000 rockets and mortar shells have 

been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip by Hamas and 

other terrorist organizations since Israeli forces withdrew 

from there in 2005; 

Whereas, since January 1, 2008, terrorists have fired nearly 

a thousand rockets and mortar shells into Israel; 

Whereas the near-daily rocket fire has been targeted primarily and intentionally at civilian communities in Israel, 

such as Sderot and Ashkelon, making life in such areas 

agonizing; 

Whereas the terrorist rockets have hit homes, schools, buildings, roads, power lines, and other such infrastructure in 

Israel; 

Whereas these unprovoked rocket and mortar attacks have 

murdered over a dozen Israelis, inflicted hundreds of casualties, produced thousands of cases of shock and posttraumatic stress, especially among children, and caused 

severe disruption of daily life; 

Whereas these deliberate cross-border rocket and mortar attacks on civilian populations constitute a blatant violation 

of human rights and international law; 
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•HRES 951 EH 

Whereas those responsible for launching rocket attacks 

against Israel routinely embed their production facilities 

and launch sites amongst the Palestinian civilian population, utilizing them as human shields; 

Whereas intentionally targeting civilian populations and the 

use of human shields violates international humanitarian 

and human rights law; 

Whereas numerous reports have cited the copious amounts of 

sophisticated weapons, small arms, and weapons manufacturing materials that have been smuggled into Gaza 

through Egypt; 

Whereas public reports have cited the role of Iran and Syria 

in providing material support and training to those carrying out rocket and other terrorist attacks from Gaza; 

Whereas public reports have referenced the increased flow of 

ammunition, explosives, and higher-grade weapons into 

the Gaza Strip as a result of Hamas’ breach of the 12- 

kilometer security fence separating Gaza from Egyptian 

Sinai on January 23, 2008; 

Whereas it was reported that after the breach of the Egyptian-Gaza border, many Palestinian terrorists who had 

trained in Syria and Iran returned to Gaza; 

Whereas the fielding and use of longer-range rockets by 

Hamas and other terrorist organizations to reach larger 

Israeli cities represents a dangerous expansion of the organizations’ offensive capabilities and an escalation of the 

terrorist attacks on Israel; 

Whereas the Government of Israel’s military operations in 

Gaza only target Hamas and other terrorist organizations; 
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•HRES 951 EH 

Whereas the inadvertent inflicting of civilian casualties as a 

result of defensive military operations aimed at military 

targets, while deeply regrettable, is not at all morally 

equivalent to the deliberate targeting of civilian populations as practiced by Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups; and 

Whereas the situation in the Gaza Strip remains a threat to 

international security and regional stability: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) strongly condemns— 

(A) Hamas, which controls Gaza, and other 

Palestinian terrorist organizations for the ongoing 

rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and continued 

human rights violations; 

(B) state sponsors of terror, such as Iran and 

Syria, for enabling Palestinian terrorist organizations to carry out attacks against innocent Israeli 

civilians; and 

(C) the use of innocent Palestinian civilians as 

human shields by those who carry out rocket and 

other attacks; 

(2) expresses condolences to the families of the innocent victims on both sides of the conflict; 

(3) supports the sovereign right of the Government 

of Israel to defend its territory against attacks; 
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•HRES 951 EH 

(4) expresses sympathy and support for innocent 

Palestinian civilians who reject all forms of terrorism 

and desire to live in peace with their Israeli neighbors 

but who continue to be utilized as human shields by terrorist organizations; 

(5) considers rocket attacks against Israel and the 

fostering of terrorism in the Palestinian territories as direct and serious impediments to the achievement of 

Israeli-Palestinian peace; 

(6) calls on the President to— 

(A) direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to introduce a 

resolution within the United Nations Security Council condemning Palestinian rocket and other attacks 

against innocent Israeli civilians; and 

(B) direct the Secretary of State to raise this 

issue in all applicable bilateral and international 

fora; 

(7) calls on responsible countries and United States 

allies in the Middle East to officially and publicly condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and other terrorist actions against Israel; and 
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(8) reaffirms the strong and unyielding friendship 

between the Governments and the people of Israel and 

the United States. 

Attest: 

Clerk.