Jayapal calls for Middle East coalition to bring peace in Gaza, take out Hamas

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on Sunday called for a coalition including the United States, Israel and Arab countries to bring about the demise of Hamas, while also ensuring long-term stability in the region.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Jayapal reiterated her call for a cease-fire and denied the suggestion it would lead to keeping “that brutal terrorist regime in place in Gaza.”

“I don’t think that’s true. I think that what is true is that Hamas needs to be taken out. It is a terrorist organization,” Jayapal said. “But I think the way to do that — as many terrorism experts have said — is to create a durable and strong coalition of allies within the Middle East, with the United States, with Israel, to make sure that we have a long-term political solution, that there is an alternative to Hamas to lead in Gaza and to establish a state for Palestinians.”

Jayapal condemned Hamas but pointed to Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza as what’s hampering progress to a long-term solution.

“We have to condemn what Hamas did on October 7. We cannot allow for 15,000 Palestinians to date to have been killed, three-quarters of whom are women and children, and say that that is going to help us in the long term,” Jayapal said.

“Morally, but also strategically, for Israel, the only way through this is to create a situation where there is a political solution that involves a Palestinian state and an Israeli state,” she added.

Jayapal stressed the need for a long-term solution to bring about the end of the war.

“At the end of the day, what we need is a lasting coalition that is not going to be formed if Israel continues to do what they are doing, and the United States cannot be backers of this kind of indiscriminate bombing. And that is my firm belief,” she said.

Jayapal’s call comes as Israel resumes its offensive in Gaza, following a seven-day temporary cease-fire that saw the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of three times that number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli custody.