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A senior Republican congressman told Fox News Digital he felt sickened after viewing footage of Palestinian terror organization Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise terror attacks that killed 1,200 Israeli citizens.
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa spoke with Fox News Digital over the phone after viewing the footage with most of his congressional colleagues.
Issa said the "vast majority" of congressional lawmakers were in the Cannon Caucus Room to view the footage. The congressman noted that there were "over 300" people in attendance, which led to the screening being "standing room only."
Rep. Darrell Issa spoke with Fox News Digital over the phone after viewing the footage with the majority of his congressional colleagues. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The senior House Foreign Affairs Committee Republican said the footage of "uniformed, military Hamas and civilian-dressed Hamas" killing "unarmed civilians" made him sick.
"I've seen decapitation and I've seen just beating, and beating on both dead and alive bodies," Issa said. "And quite frankly, I'm just sick to my stomach."
Issa said he believes the "most important detail" was the multiple sources of the footage. Some videos came from terrorists' own social media posts, but most were from body camera footage and cellphone footage recorded by Hamas.
"I mean, the details. And you can hear it, but when you see it, it's like visiting Auschwitz or Birkenau, except it's still going on visually," Issa said.
Since the Oct. 7 attacks – during which Issa was in the Middle East – antisemitic hate crimes have been on the rise, as well as protests against Israel. Videos of protesters ripping down posters of Israelis who have been kidnapped by Hamas have gone viral online since the attacks. (Stephen Yang for Fox News Digital)
Since the Oct. 7 attacks – during which Issa was in the Middle East – antisemitic hate crimes have dramatically increased, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Protests against Israel have also intensified, and there are numerous viral videos of protesters ripping down posters of Israelis who have been kidnapped by Hamas.
"I respect people's rights to protest for the things that they think are unfair," Issa said. "This isn't one of them."
"Gaza was not occupied. This was not a resistance within Gaza, but rather a deliberate attack on civilians over the border," he continued.
Issa said the situation is one of "two separate things" and that we "can talk about the unfairness of the Palestinians not having a country of their own." But those discussions should be separate from condemnation of what was shown to members of Congress, Issa said.
Issa said he believes the "most important detail" is that there are "so many sources" of the footage, noting some videos come from terrorists' own social media posts but are primarily from body camera and cellphone footage recorded by Hamas. (Yousef Masoud/Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The videos depicted "the unprovoked slaughter of civilians, a degree of inhumanity that you usually think for the machete world of elsewhere, but not in an area where education and opportunity is available the way it is for the Palestinians in Gaza," Issa said.
The California Republican said he believes the House "did the right thing" by passing the Israel aid bill "overwhelmingly" earlier this month, a bill that paid for aid by slashing the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) funding.
Issa blasted President Biden as well, saying the president is "not complaining about the offset as much as he's complaining about it not being in two other areas."
"I don't think anything could be less appropriate. You know, funding for Ukraine and the ongoing war there, which is a military-on-military war primarily, is something I support. But supporting two fronts against two aggressors doesn't have to be combined. And, you know, I think the Senate is being petty, I think the president's being extremely petty."
Issa said the Constitution is "very clear" on the House's job to appropriate and that they have done that job while trying "to do it in a responsible way by finding funds that are less important."
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"And right now, we're making them available," Issa said. "And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I've supported every package for Israel since I've been here, this one is no exception."
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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