Joy Behar Visibly Dismayed After Sunny Hostin Suggests Israel Is The Side Doing ‘War Crimes’ After Hamas Terror Attack

The View co-host Sunny Hostin suggested Israel is engaging in war crimes in the increasingly bloody conflict that began when terrorist organization Hamas surprise attacked the nation last week, taking hostages and engaging in a stunning, wholesale slaughter of civilians, including butchering of infants and massacre of Israeli families.

In a complex conversation on Friday’s episode, co-hosts Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Hostin discussed not just the original attacks that started the continually escalating war, but the geopolitical pressures on nearby nations and the impact of Israel’s response and air strikes in Gaza.

After strong statements from Behar and Haines on the terrorist attacks and the reasonable refusal of governments to negotiate with terrorists, Hostin countered by bringing up the Proud Boys and suggesting in an around-about way that Israel is targeting civilians, violating human rights laws, and committing atrocities on par with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I do think that what we need to remember is that there is an international human rights body of law. And when you look at that law, part of it is, retaliation against innocent civilians, collectively, is also terror. And it’s also a war crime,” said Hostin. “And again, those are not my words. Those are the words of the law.”

She quoted EU president Ursula von der Leyen, who said “just last year when we were all talking about Ukraine,” that “‘Russia’s attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes. Cutting off men, women, children of water, electricity and heating with winter coming. These are acts of pure terror and we have to call it as such.’”

Navarro pointed out that, “what Israel is saying consistently is: if you want your water, if you want your electricity, release our hostages. In my view, that’s that’s not an irrational question. That is not an irrational demand. Release our people that you are holding there, human shields. ”

Hostin replied that Israel “should” demand the return of the civilians taken hostage during the terror attack, “but in the process, they should really refrain from committing war crimes or terror because they’re going to lose the good will that they have gained.”

Amid the crosstalk as the tensions escalated, Navarro crucially pointed out that, “Humanity, values, principles, the law” are not part of Hamas.

“They are a terrorist organization. They don’t care about Palestinians. They care about annihilating Israel,” she said.

As Hostin began to object further, the noticeably distressed Behar had to finally go to a break, showing her exasperation and dismay as she did.

NAVARRO: Look, as a child, I lived through a civil war in Nicaragua. Nowhere near the violence and the level of arms that we’re seeing right now. But I know what it’s like to be a child caught in the crossfire and the violence and the death created by adults. The way I feel about this is it’s heartbreaking. And if you are human, you’ve got to be just as sad to see innocent children, whether they are Palestinian or whether they are Israeli.

The problem is that Hamas doesn’t care about Israeli children or Palestinian children. What they care about is only one thing: wiping Israel off the face of the earth.

BEHAR: Right.

NAVARRO: That is their sole purpose of existence. And I was reminded of a of a quote that I’m going to paraphrase from Golda Meir, a premier of, a prime minister in Israel in the past. And she said: If Hamas, if Palestinians put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.

And that is the problem. That is the problem that for Israel this is about existence. And I think it’s it’s heartbreaking for everybody, including outside of that region. And I’m going to tell you this. I think it’s taking a huge emotional toll on the world. If you have a Jewish person in your life who you care about, or a Palestinian who does not support Hamas and is also suffering by what’s happening in Gaza, reach out to them, ask them how they’re doing. Tell them that you care. I think one of the most important things we can do really, is educate ourselves on on the genesis of what’s happening in that region and the facts. Be sure we’re fact-driven. There’s a lot of misinformation going on. All right.

HAINES: Well, I echo the sentiment that Hamas is to blame for all of the bloodshed happening right now in Israel and Palestine. A lot of people counter that, as if there’s a counter to, you know, Gaza lives in horrid conditions, which I concede. But I put that on the shoulders and the backs of Hamas. They are a terrorist organization that while as Alyssa said, while aid is coming in, they’re diverting it to build rockets and weapons. So they’re not getting food and water because Hamas is in power right now.

Israel issues warnings saying, you know, get out. Hamas says please stay because they need them to up the body count. They don’t care about their own lives. They’re jihadist. They definitely don’t care about your life or my life. And they would come for all of us. But the surrounding nations deserve a little blame, too. They are all pro-Palestine, and yet they’re rejecting these refugees.

BEHAR: That includes Jordan, Syria and Egypt. And Turkey…

HAINES: So the U.S. right now is telling Egypt open that so they can get out and everyone saying, but what about the people there? We’re all saying, what about the people that were stuck there? The surrounding Palestinian, pro-Palestinian nations need to open their doors. They’re all saying we don’t want trouble, we don’t have room, but ‘Go Palestine!’ That is hypocritical.

BEHAR: They want Israel to solve it.

HAINES: Well, they want everyone wants to blame Israel. No one wants to do their part. But no one will negotiate with terrorists. No rightfully elected government will negotiate with terrorists. Until Hamas is out, there will be no peace.

BEHAR: Another thing that Golda Meir said was, you cannot negotiate with people who want to kill you.

HAINES: Yeah!.

BEHAR: So that’s what’s going on now. Go ahead, Sunny, you want to say something?

HOSTIN: No, I just you know, I look at this from a legal perspective and I think that we all know that Hamas has been designated a terror organization, just like many other terror organizations, have had this designation, like the Proud Boys here in the United States.

But, but I do think that what we need to remember is that there is an international human rights body of law. And when you look at that law, part of it is retaliation against innocent civilians, collectively, is also terror, and it’s also a war crime. And again, those are not my words. Those are the words of the law.

And the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said just last year when we were all talking about Ukraine, she said “Russia’s attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes. Cutting off men, women, children of water, electricity and heating with winter coming. These are acts of pure terror and we have to call it as such.” And so what I’m saying is, yes, I think those that are around the other Arab countries. Israel actually bombed the only exit out of Palestine to Egypt. what they’re trying, not, and Egypt cut off the second one because…

Egypt is afraid, in many respects, and don’t, doesn’t want to get involved in this conflict. I think many people don’t want to get involved in this conflict. But we can’t lose our humanity. We must get involved.

GRIFFIN: Just as a factual matter, the Israeli government is working with the Biden administration to try to get safe to, they have been working

HAINES: They’ve been trying to get Egypt to help.

HOSTIN: The U.N. has really, I think, done an outstanding job in terms of trying to get the aid that Jordan has sent to Egypt, to try to get it in to the people. But when you have 2.2 million people stuck in an area, half of which are children and you’re telling them…

BEHAR: Don’t you think Hamas attacking Israel is the reason they have a problem there?

NAVARRO: Anthony Blinken is down there in the region right now trying to work with a diplomatic solution for these refugees. But I want to say that, and I think this is very important. What Israel is saying consistently is, if you want your water, if you want your electricity, release our hostages. In my view, that’s that’s not an irrational question. That is not an irrational demand. Release our people that you are holding there, human shields.

HOSTIN: And they should. But in the process, they should really refrain from committing war crimes or terror because they’re going to lose the good will that they have gained.

GRIFFIN: I do you think it’s very important, though. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who was the director of CENTCOM, said Hamas is worse than ISIS. There’s no equivocating as far as the terror and the death tally.

BEHAR: Look what they did!

GRIFFIN: Beheading children. This is a group that you cannot reason with. There is not a diplomatic solution with Hamas specifically, but we will stand with helping innocent.

HAINES: And is there any legal bearing on Hamas for withholding water from their own people, or is that okay?

BEHAR: They don’t care!

HOSTIN: Well, they’re — they’re not responsible for withholding the water now.

NAVARRO: Humanity, values, principles, the law doesn’t apply to Hamas. They are a terrorist organization. They don’t care about Palestinians. They care about annihilating Israel.

BEHAR: They started this! That’s the part you have to remember.

HOSTIN: But we also have you have to understand that they are not really a democ-.

BEHAR: Hamas started this!

HOSTIN: … a democratically elected…

BEHAR: We got to go. We got to go.

Watch the clip above, via The View on ABC.