JNS.org – U.S. lawmakers from both parties on Monday urged the disarming of Hamas at the National Leadership Assembly for Israel, which was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“If there is to be a political solution, it is imperative that Hamas is disarmed,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told the gathering, held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

“We would never allow [terror] tunnels to come into America without being destroyed,” incoming House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, The Wall Street Journal reported. “And we would never allow Hamas to have any military existence.”

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, “We will not equate professional militaries with terrorist organizations [like Hamas] that use human shields as they seek maximum civilian casualties.”