A US candidate for congress has claimed that if elected his first bill will be to recognise Israeli sovereignty over Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Randy Fine, a State Senator for Florida who is running for the state’s 6th congressional district, made the pledge in a statement on X.
“My first bill in congress will be to recognize Gaza and Judea and Samaria as parts of the State of Israel and to call for the expulsion of these monsters [Palestinians] from Israel,” he said.
Alongside his calls to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian Territories and for their forced displacement, Fine also accused “‘innocent Palestinian civilians'” of strangling and mutilating the bodies of the Bibas children.
The Bibas family, made up of 34-year-old Yarden, 32-year-old Shiri, 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir, were kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 that saw 251 people taken captive, and 1,200 killed.
Hamas claims that the Shiri and the two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the enclave in November 2023, however upon receiving their bodies Israel claims that they were killed with “bare hands”. Neither party has released evidence to the public over the claims.
In his statement Fine added that “there are demons that live on Earth. They deserve no state. They only deserve death”.
His statement has been subjected to limited visibility on the basis that it may violate X’s rules against violent speech.
Fine has made numerous posts following the release of bodies of the Bibas family, equating Palestinians to Hamas, a post that was also visibility limited, and calling for the destruction of Gaza. Many of his posts end with the hashtag “BombsAway”.
The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) condemned the tweet.
A statement issued by the chapter’s Communications Director Wilfredo Ruiz said “We urge the Florida House of Representatives to censure Mr. Fine for his appalling statement.”
“Mr. Fine has, time and again, expressed hatred towards Palestinians and called for their outright extermination. Someone with such vile ideas should not be allowed to represent a diverse community and must be censured,” he added.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, when including the tens of thousands believed to be trapped under the extensive rubble of the enclave, and displaced most of its population.
