Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., listens during the confirmation hearing for Lieutenant General Timothy Haugh, nominee to be the Director of the National Security Agency, and Michael Casey, nominee to be the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, in the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"Some of our audience members are accusing you of pretty serious conduct," Cotton said, referencing the protesters.
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"I want to give you a chance to respond to what's been said," he continued. "Is Israel exterminating the Palestinian people?"
Burns responded: "I think there are a lot of innocent civilians in Gaza who are in desperate conditions right now." He added that there are also hostages in "desperate circumstances."
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines arrives for an official State Dinner in honor of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
When Cotton asked Burns if Israel was starving children, as protesters claimed, the CIA director said, "I think the reality is that there are children who are starving."
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The senator pressed him as to whether this was Israel's doing, to which Burns didn't respond.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., leaves a meeting with the Senate Republicans at the Capitol building on Nov. 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
"They're starving," Burns reiterated.
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Cotton then stated for the record that he doesn't believe Israel or any of the national security witnesses are either "exterminating the Palestinian people or starving Palestinian children."
The senator told Fox News Digital afterward that he was "disappointed" by their answers.
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