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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian, anti-war protesters gathered within sight of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to denounce Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he was set to address Congress.
Some of the protesters carried signs that read "arrest Netanyahu" and "end all U.S. aid to Israel" while shouting "Free, Free Palestine."
There was extensive fencing surrounding the Capitol and a large contingent of law enforcement officers a day after a pro-Palestinian sit-in at a congressional office building ended with scores of arrests. Several protesters on Wednesday erected a large effigy of Netanyahu with devil horns and fake blood dripping from its mouth.
Police lining Pennsylvania Avenue leading to the Capitol led away several protesters who were sitting in the street hoping to block Netanyahu's arrival for his speech, the fourth time during his lengthy tenure as the Israeli leader that he has addressed U.S. lawmakers.
Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson first invited the Israeli leader, and he eventually was joined by the three other top-rung congressional officials, including two Democrats, in asking Netanyahu to update lawmakers on the state of the war.
But dozens of Democrats are boycotting the speech in protest of Israel's conduct of the war that was triggered by Hamas' terror attack on Israel last October 7 that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages.
Israel's subsequent counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health authorities, but also, according to the Israeli military, thousands of Hamas combatants. Hamas is believed to still be holding about 70 living hostages after freeing about 100 last November during a week-long pause in the fighting in exchange for several hundred Palestinians jailed by Israel.
The second-ranking Senate Democrat, Senator Dick Durbin, said in a statement that Israel's execution of the war in Gaza "is a brutal strategy beyond any acceptable level of self-defense."
"Netanyahu's refusal to consider any peace plan that gives both Israelis and Palestinians a guarantee of security is inconsistent with a peaceful conclusion to this age-old conflict," Durbin said. "I will stand by Israel, but I will not stand and cheer its current prime minister."
The likely Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, is also skipping the speech in favor of a previously scheduled political speech to a Black sorority in Indianapolis, although she plans to meet with Netanyahu while he is in Washington.
President Joe Biden has grown increasingly impatient with Netanyahu's failure to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas but is discussing the war with him on Thursday at the White House. Netanyahu is then traveling to the southern state of Florida to meet with the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday.
The Israeli prime minister is under pressure at home and from Biden and other international leaders to reach a cease-fire, at least a six-week halt to fighting that has been under negotiation for months. Netanyahu told Jewish groups in Washington earlier this week that he would lay out for Congress a plan on how Gaza might be governed when the fighting ends.
Netanyahu has long said the Jewish state's goal is to end any Hamas control of Gaza, the narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, and to not stop fighting until he believes Israel has achieved that goal and is secure.
Negotiations over the details about how to halt the fighting have been fraught, however, and the two sides have failed to reach agreement.