This Week in the 904: Congressman Rutherford discusses U.S. involvement in the Israel-Hamas War

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax spoke to Congressman John Rutherford about the United States’ support of Israel following continued airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza.

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The war between Israel and Hamas destroyed more Gaza buildings on Tuesday. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have been killed.

As the battle continues, there is concern that other terrorist groups will expand the war.

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Action News Jax’s John Bachman sat down with Congressman John Rutherford about how the United States can support Israel and keep that from happening.

“Our enemies over there, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi in Yemen, they need to know that we are standing solid behind Israel. We’re going to be there,” Rutherford explained. “We’ve got two carrier groups that have already moved over there, and the Carney has done great work already. They need to know that you mess with Israel, you’re messing with us.”

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Roughly 1,400 people in Israel have been killed. Most of these people were civilians killed in the initial Hamas rampage that started the fighting on Oct. 7. Hamas also took 240 hostages.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the Israel-Hamas War has killed 8,525 Palestinians. Congressman Rutherford made it a point to address that as well.

“I also want to point this out. You know we have a very large Palestinian constituency here in Jacksonville, and they are good people. They don’t like Hamas any more than we do everybody. So you know, the tragedy is those Palestinians living in Gaza, who don’t support Hamas either. I mean, they’re occupied by Hamas. It’s not their will if they are under that, so a lot of innocent people are going to die,” Rutherford said. “But it’s the fault of Hamas, not Israel, in that, and I tried to make that distinction. Israel was attacked, viciously attacked, and civilians were just slaughtered.”

You can see more of our interview with John Rutherford this Sunday on “This Week in the 904.” The program airs at 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on CBS47 and 10 a.m. on FOX30.

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