House Democrats got briefed on Israel as progressives raise concerns over Gaza evacuation

Congress

House Democrats got an Israel briefing on Friday as the U.S. ally ordered the mass evacuation of more than a million residents from Gaza in the aftermath of terrorist attacks that have killed more than a thousand people.

“If it’s truly intended to allow the citizen population to get out of the way of attack, 24 hours for 1.1 million people seems logistically impossible,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), who participated in the call, told POLITICO. “The answer that at least that we got to the question was the intent is to allow for people who want to leave to leave.”

A spokesperson for J Street — which hosted the call — said it included participants from the Israel Defense Forces, included “representatives of the IDF and from Israeli analysts/commentators, including those with firsthand experiences of the attack.” They said it’s the second briefing hosted since the attack and that the group would be happy to brief interested Republican members.

Republican staff had attended another briefing by the group earlier in the week, a spokesperson said.

The moves come as dozens of progressives voiced concern about the looming counteroffensive from Israel and the possible impacts on Palestinian citizens.

“I get @IsraeliPMwanting to go after Hamas,” wrote Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on X, formerly known as Twitter. “But international standards must apply, protection of innocents must be respected, and unrealistic demands like moving 1.1 million people in 24 hours is ridiculous. Israel will lose public support & hurt innocent people.”