CNN Anchor Pushes Democrat On How Exactly Israel Can Bring Hamas to Justice Without Bombing Gaza: ‘Generalities May Sound Good’

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) joined CNN on Friday morning to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas War and received a tough line of questioning when he urged Israel to both bring Hamas to justice and stop the bombing of Gaza.

The interview was immediately preceded by CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera in Tel Aviv reporting on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit and the ongoing bombardment of Israel from Hamas. Lavandera noted that while on air Tel Aviv appeared to be hit by major rocket fire from Hamas.

Anchor Kate Bolduan then brought in Khanna and asked him to react to Blinken’s statements:

And you heard maybe a portion of the secretary of state speaking before you had to go away. I wanted to get your reaction, though, to hearing from the secretary of state, a shift in tone, saying very clearly that the United States stands with Israel, but also saying that Israel needs we collectively need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians and saying that there is a commitment to talks about a humanitarian pause. What does this look like for you?

“Well, let me be very clear. The bombing of innocent civilians, women, and children needs to stop. It needs to stop today,” Khanna replied, adding:

And this is an emerging sentiment among Democrats in the House and the Senate from Senator Chris Murphy all the way to the progressive Democrats. Now, I believe Israel has a right to bring Hamas perpetrators to justice. I believe in their right to self-defense. But when we went after Osama bin Laden, we did not bomb Pakistani civilians when India was attacked with a terrorist attack in Mumbai. They did not just bomb civilians. So we need to look at how surgically Hamas perpetrators can be brought to justice. But the bombing that is on CNN and on everyone’s social media, that needs to end.

Bolduan pressed for details, asking, “Really quickly, though, how what is the difference between a humanitarian pause and a cease-fire? How do you make sure that you’re going about taking out Hamas terrorists when they are, as Tony Blinken just said, they use Palestinian civilians as human shields? How do you do it effectively? How do you pause without allowing Hamas to take advantage of the pause? These are not easy questions, but when we talk in generalities, it may sound good, but how specifically do you think they do it?”

“Well, I think they do it the way Thomas Friedman has written about extensively, which is through surgical strikes, through special forces, through looking,” Khanna replied, seeming to suggest Israeli troops can simply sweep Gaza for Hamas fighters.

“And this may take time. It took many years for us to go after the terrorists responsible for 9/11, but to have vast bombing in civilian places. And I acknowledge Secretary Blinken’s point, which is absolutely correct, that Hamas is using civilian civilians as human shields,” he added, continuing:

But I don’t think if you’re using hundreds of civilians as a human shield and you have one terrorist that justifies a bombing which is going to have civilians and children and women and the hundreds as collateral damage, they are more surgical and precise ways of doing it and bringing these people to justice. And that, to me, is the sentiment that I see emerging among not just young people in this country, but among many Democrats.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.