WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis on Tuesday expressed “cautious hope” for President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan and recalled the horrors of the Hamas attack at a music festival in Israel two years ago to the day.
Speaking with Cowboy State Daily in her Capitol Hill office, the Wyoming Republican said Israel should not be faulted for its military response to the attack. Some say the response has amounted to genocide stemming largely from food shortages in Gaza.
“I think it’s important that we recall what Hamas did,” Lummis said. “They entered Israel unprovoked and killed over 1,200 people. And these murders were so heinous, so brutal, so inhumane that it exposed the absolute black heart of Hamas.”
She pointed the finger solely at Hamas for the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, saying the group has sabotaged humanitarian aid efforts meant for innocent civilians.
Hamas “would stop caravans of food that were coming into Gaza,” Lummis said. “To call what Hamas is doing to its own people genocide by the Israelis is a complete mischaracterization of what's going on. … Hamas is willing to use its own women and children as human shields.
“All of the blame, literally all of it, lies at the feet of Hamas.”
Visited With Israelis
Lummis has visited Israel three times in her official capacity as a federal lawmaker, beginning when she served in the U.S. House. She has not been there since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, although in Washington she recently met with the brother of a hostage, and with a little girl who not only lost her parents but was taken captive as well.
In her office next to the Capitol, Lummis in May met with Chaim Or, whose brother Avinatan Or was abducted at the music festival. Lummis keeps a poster of the victim and says it is not known whether he is dead or alive.
In the Capitol about a month earlier, Lummis met with the young girl, Abigail Mor Edan. According to Lummis, the girl saw her parents murdered in the attack and was held hostage for 51 days.
The State Department said Tuesday that 48 people remain in Hamas captivity. The department noted that 46 Americans were among the 1,200-plus who were murdered. Twelve of the original 254 hostages were U.S. citizens as well.
Palestinian health authorities have estimated that more than 67,000 people have been killed by Isreal’s military campaign in the Gaza strip.
Over the past two years Lummis has sponsored or co-sponsored measures in support of Israel, ranging from military aid packages to simple Senate resolutions declaring unwavering support for the country.
Lummis noted she does not serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But as a senator with deep convictions on the Israel-Gaza conflict, she has been in communication with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. The senator is following the peace talks closely.
Trump Peace Plan
Lummis’s staff provided Cowboy State Daily the full text of Trump’s 20-point Middle East peace plan, as given to her office by the White House.
According to these documents, the plan calls for Gaza to be run “under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” overseen by “a new international transitional body, the ‘Board of Peace,’” which would be led by Trump.
The U.S. would work with Arab states to develop and deploy an “International Stabilization Force” in Gaza. This force, in turn, would work with Egypt, Israel and newly trained Palestinian police.
Trump’s plan would ban Hamas from any role in Gaza governance, but it also declares that Israel “will not occupy or annex Gaza.” Trump would lead economic development efforts.
The plan calls for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages — dead or alive — in exchange for the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, plus 1,700 other Gazans held by Israel.
The Netanyahu Factor
Asked whether the plan is likely to succeed, Lummis replied, “I am hopeful,” but then added: “It’s cautious hope because some of the terms of the 20 points are things that Hamas has resisted for two years.”
Lummis noted the involvement of multiple countries in the peace talks, saying Trump is on the right track.
“President Trump and his team have done the world a great service,” she said.
Recent news reports said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has greeted Trump’s plan cooly, triggering backlash from Trump.
Asked about that, Lummis said in a reference to Trump: “There are times, when you want to be perceived as an honest broker of peace, that you need to encourage both sides to not be obstinate.”
Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.
