Hillary Rodham Clinton is before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today for her confirmation hearing for Secretary of State.

Her opening statement contains the following statement about the current situation in Israel-Gaza:

“The President-Elect and I understand and are deeply sympathetic to Israel’s desire to defend itself under the current conditions, and to be free of shelling by Hamas by rockets. However, we have also been reminded of the tragic humanitarian costs of conflict in the Middle East, and pained by the suffering of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”

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