Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed, “We are at war” after Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, a move that caught the Israeli military and security agencies off guard.
According to a Sunday report, 600 Israelis had been killed in the overnight Hamas strike. Israel has also launched a counteroffensive, codenamed “Operation Swords of Iron,” against the Hamas terror group.
Reports show Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, reportedly called for prayers on Sunday for Palestinians and called for an end to the violence between Israel and Hamas. The representative also said in her statement that Palestinians should be given international protection.
Among the first Muslim women elected to Congress, Omar has been a vocal opponent of Israel in the United States, often speaking out against what she called human rights violations against Palestinians. The Democrat senator has been accused of being anti-Semitic for her words and stance towards Israel.
Omar highlighted the loss of human life in a post on X.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee in February. The resolution cited Omar’s history of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements.
The two-term Democrat from Minnesota has earned a reputation for supporting racist tropes, such as saying that Israel had “hypnotized” the globe and that Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” which led Republicans to object to Omar remaining on the committee.
Omar issued an apology for her comments but has remained vocal in her opposition to Israel.
Omar, in 2019, proposed a resolution that backed the anti-Israel BDS campaign of boycotting, divesting, and sanctioning (BDS).
In 2021, she stated that alleged crimes attributed to the US and Israel were comparable to those attributed to the terrorist groups Taliban and Hamas.
Omar’s apology followed criticism from the leadership of her own party for likening the United States and its Middle Eastern allies to terrorist organizations.
The comments Omar made at a CAIR conference also garnered significant media attention. Omar stated that the organization was established in the wake of 9/11 because its members understood that because “some people did something,” they were in danger of losing their rights.
Some were angered by her use of the term “some people did something” to describe the terrorist attacks that murdered almost 3,000 Americans, including foreign citizens, and they accused her of trivializing the tragedy.
