A Republican congressman compares Palestinian civilians to 'Nazi civilians' on the House floor

• A GOP representative compared Palestinian civilians to "Nazi civilians' in a speech on the House floor.
• More than 8,000 Palestinian civilians have been reported killed in less than a month by the Israeli military.

Speaking on the House floor on Wednesday, a Republican congressman compared Palestinian civilians to Nazis.

Rep. Brian Mast, a representative from Florida who's been in Congress since 2017, made the comparison in the middle of a short speech he gave as Congress debated whether or not to impose sanctions on Hamas.

Mast equated Palestinian civilians to civilians of World War II-era Nazi Germany weeks after Hamas terrorists launched a large-scale coordinated attack against Israel, leading to more than 1,400 Israeli civilian deaths. Since then, the Israeli military has responded by dropping bombs on buildings in Gaza — along with a refugee camp — killing more than 8,000 Palestinian civilians, more than 3,600 of whom were children, according to Gazan officials.

"I think when we look at this as a whole, I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians," Mast said. "As is frequently said, I don't think we would so lightly throw around the term 'innocent Nazi civilians' during World War II."

Mast received an honorable discharge from the US Army after losing both of his legs and a finger from an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Years later, in 2015, Mast volunteered with the Israeli Defense Force for a month through the Sar-El program. According to the Times of Israel, his volunteer work comprised of packing medical kits and moving around supplies.

Less than a week after the attacks in Israel, he donned his old Israeli military uniform in the Capitol and told reporters that the lone member of Congress with ties to Palestine, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, "has her flag, I got my uniform."

On Wednesday night, members of the House voted in a bipartisan manner to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill censuring Tlaib for alleged "antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection." Twenty-three Republicans ultimately joined the entire Democratic caucus to stop it from moving forward.

Greene later raged on X against several of her Republican colleagues for halting the censure attempt, calling Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy "Colonel Sanders" while also getting attacks in against Reps. Lauren Boebert and Ken Buck.

The Biden Administration recently asked Congress for permission to send $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, but Congress has yet to bring such a bill to a vote. Speaker Mike Johnson recently introduced one on Monday, but it necessitated cutting billions in funding from the IRS, making it a non-starter for the vast majority of Democrats.