Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), making her fourth visit to Israel since Oct. 7, visited Majdal Shams on Tuesday, the site of a Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 Druze children last month. 

“It was very tough,” Ernst told Jewish Insider, explaining that she’d met with the fathers of some of the children killed in the attack and visited the site of the attack on a soccer field and a memorial to those killed.

“Just a devastating loss,” Ernst said. “As their fathers described them, they were all extremely talented, bright young children, and to see such innocence gone, it just reminds us of the horrible cost of war.”

Ernst is traveling in the region with Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN), John Curtis (R-UT) and Marianette Miller-Meeks (R-IA). She said they’re the first group of U.S. lawmakers to visit the site of the Hezbollah attack.

She said that they also met with residents of a kibbutz near Israel’s northern border who “are living every day with the stress of not knowing when they’re going to be attacked next, the fear that they’ve had since Oct. 7 that they could be overrun, that their children and women could be raped and murdered by other invaders.”

Ernst said that her main goal for the trip remains making progress toward freeing the hostages, which has been her focus on previous visits to the region as well, and bringing the war to a close.

“It’s very important for me to do everything I can to make sure we secure the release of these Americans,” Ernst said. “And of course, we would love to see an end to the war — favorably for Israel… It’s incredibly important that we see the end to the war, but in a way where Israel comes out victorious and Hamas is decimated.”

Ernst and her colleagues also met on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She came away from the meeting believing that “there’s a greater confidence coming now from leadership here in Israel that Hamas is nearing an end,” especially with Israel controlling the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt, which Ernst said is leaving Hamas with a dwindling supply of munitions.

“Once they see that beginning to diminish, they will have to find a way forward and they will have to negotiate with Israel on a temporary cease-fire, to get to a more permanent solution,” Ernst said.

The delegation also met with the families of American hostages, whom Ernst acknowledged are skeptical of Netanyahu and his commitment to reaching a deal.

“I do think that [Netanyahu] is committed to seeing a deal through,” Ernst told JI. “We had that very discussion and always, my first message to the prime minister — always, always, always — is we must get our hostages home. He understands that about me.”

“I do think that he has a level of optimism now about reaching an agreement with Hamas that he hasn’t had for a while,” she continued.

She said that continued pressure on Qatar and Egypt, as well as increased pressure on Iran, are critical to sealing a deal.

Both Banks and Curtis, who are traveling with Ernst, are running for the Senate in their respective states, and are heavily favored to win. Ernst explained that she had reached out to House members who could be joining the Senate, among other colleagues, about participating in the trip.

She said that Banks and Curtis are both interested in joining the Senate Armed Services Committee, making the knowledge gleaned from the trip especially critical.