‘Factually Wrong’: Congressman Calls Out Gaza Death Toll Being Shown On Screen During ‘This Week’ Interview From Israel

Florida Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz and New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler joined ABC’s Jon Karl from Tel Aviv Sunday and said the Gaza death toll cited by the media — and which was on-screen during the interview — is “factually wrong.”

Moskowitz and Lawler are point of a bipartisan delegation currently in Tel Aviv and appeared on the latest This Week on ABC after having met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The congressmen discussed the war that started with Hamas’s grisly and horrific terror attack targeting civilians in Israel and the hopes of rescuing the over 200 hostages still being held, as well as the civilian deaths in Gaza as Israeli prosecutes its campaign to root out and eliminate the Hamas terrorists.

When Karl asked Republican Lawler about President Joe Biden’s recent implications that he’s frustrated with Netanyahu and Israel, Lawler brought up the death toll — which ABC was showing on screen during the interview.

He noted first that the purpose of the delegation was to demonstrate America’s support of Israel in the war, and he pointed out that calls for a “ceasefire” are misplaced.

“For those calling for a ceasefire, they totally misunderstand the situation here,” he explained. “Hamas is not someone, some organization that is going to abide by a ceasefire. They are hell-bent on eradicating the state of Israel and eliminating the Jewish people. You’re not dealing with rational, reasonable people here.”

After stating those facts, he added that Israel is nevertheless doing everything it can to limit civilian deaths in Gaza, but that the death toll reported by Hamas and “getting repeated” in the press doesn’t tell the truth of the situation.

“But this 11,000 civilian number that keeps getting repeated by the press is factually wrong,” he said. “Within that number, thousands of Hamas terrorists have been killed. And, obviously, Hamas is using these civilians as human shields.”

In other words, he was explaining that terrorists and enemy combatants are by definition not civilians, and therefore if included in the total number, calling it a “civilian” death toll is factually inaccurate. The on-screen graphic shown on This Week during the interview did not specify whether those purported 11,000 deaths were civilian or not.

KARL: And, Congressman Lawler, we’ve heard what sounds like frustration coming from the Biden administration about getting — about Israel actions in terms of protecting civilians in Gaza, and, you know, humanitarian pauses. How does the prime minister view this? Does he still feel that he has the full and total support of the Biden administration and the U.S. government?

LAWLER: Yes. And, obviously, that’s the purpose of our delegation trip here, is to show our strong support, in a bipartisan fashion, for the state of Israel. Just, you know, a week and a half ago, we passed a resolution in strong support of Israel in condemning Hamas.

What is clear is that Israel is engaged in efforts to provide humanitarian relief. They’ve been engaged in efforts to get civilians out of the northern part of Gaza.

But for those calling for a ceasefire, they totally misunderstand the situation here. Hamas is not someone, some organization that is going to abide by a ceasefire. They are hell-bent on eradicating the state of Israel and eliminating the Jewish people. You’re not dealing with rational, reasonable people here.

And, you know, Israel needs to be able to defend itself. Nobody would call on the United States to engage in a ceasefire after September 11th, 2001. And I think it’s irresponsible for us to call on Israel to do that when they’re trying to defend themselves.

The bottom line here is, yes, we need to provide humanitarian relief and we want to avoid civilian casualties.

But this 11,000 civilian number that keeps getting repeated by the press is factually wrong. Within that number, thousands of Hamas terrorists have been killed. And, obviously, Hamas is using these civilians as human shields.

And so, the oppressor here, the people that are responsible for the deaths in Gaza is Hamas.

KARL: All right, Congressman Lawler, Congressman Moskowitz, thank you for joining us. Safe travels back to the U.S.

Watch the clip above via ABC News.