Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) said he left Israel from a weekend visit with a renewed belief in the U.S.-Israel relationship and the necessity of fully eradicating Hamas, as the IDF begins expanded operations in Gaza City.

“It just reinforced my position of the importance that the United States stands with Israel, and in supporting Israel in their mission to eradicate Hamas in Gaza,” Daines said in an interview with Jewish Insider this week, reflecting on a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There will never be true peace in Gaza and peace with Israel until Hamas is eradicated.”

He said that it’s also crucial for innocent Palestinians that Israel be successful in its mission to defeat Hamas. Daines said that he didn’t discuss the postwar vision for Gaza with Netanyahu, “but clearly the important first step will be eradicating Hamas.”

Daines said he’d also spoken to Netanyahu about the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, and that Netanyahu had offered his condolences.

“He also just shares my concerns about the dangerous ideologies that exist, and how that turns into violent acts,” Daines said. “So there was just some sadness on both of our parts that we shared about the loss of a great leader and somebody who was a strong supporter of Israel.”

The Montana senator reportedly helped broker a historic peace deal earlier this year between the long-warring Armenia and Azerbaijan, and said that he’d discussed that issue with Netanyahu.

“He was very encouraged by that as well, and of course, the close relationship that Azerbaijan has with Israel,” Daines said. “That’s some meaningful progress, now, that I think will deliver longer-term peace dividends and economic dividends for that part of the world.”

Daines said that he and Netanyahu did not discuss the Israeli strikes in Doha, Qatar, last week, beyond speaking broadly about the “importance of eliminating Hamas and eliminating their leadership and their command and control structure.”

“I think what Israel demonstrated is that no matter where these Hamas leaders are, they’re going to track them down,” Daines said, comparing Israel’s efforts to the U.S.’ post 9/11 pursuit of Osama bin Laden.

The Montana senator also visited Israeli communities close to the border with Gaza and attended an inaugural ceremony for the Pilgrimage Road at the City of David in Jerusalem, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Daines described his visit to the Nahal Oz military base as particularly affecting. He and his wife heard firsthand from a young female IDF soldier, who showed them videos of her friends who were “brutalized” by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

“We were literally in the safe room that was turned into a room where the terrorists brutalized these young women Israeli soldiers. And then they took us into the control room where the Hamas terrorists locked the young female IDF soldiers and burned them to death,” Daines said. “It was very emotional.”

He said the experience was a reminder that “we’ve got to keep telling the story of what happened on Oct. 7,” and one he planned to share with his staff upon his return to Washington.

On the Gaza border, Daines said he could also hear F-16s flying overhead and the bombings in Gaza City.

Based on his visit to a humanitarian aid staging site at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, Daines offered strong praise for the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and Christian aid groups like Samaritan’s Purse, saying he was “struck [by] the clear contrast” between the way those groups are performing — “the standard of excellence and efficiency and execution” — in comparison to the United Nations-linked aid organizations. The GHF and Samaritans’ Purse “are doing it the right way,” he said.

“The U.N. is not using the same best practices as these other NGOs, and it’s just a mob scene with the men raiding these U.N. trucks — a lot of Hamas members — who are taking the aid and then … selling it,” Daines continued. “So the U.N. is propping up Hamas by giving them aid in a disorderly fashion. The people of Gaza suffer and Hamas profit[s].”

Daines said that the ceremony for the Pilgrimage Road was a “once-in-a-lifetime moment” that he’ll “never forget.”

“I was so proud of Secretary Rubio and Ambassador Huckabee. Their remarks were outstanding, and I think they captured the significance of the moment, the historical perspective around why the City of David excavation is so important, and literally and figuratively, bedrock for the Judeo-Christian faith and values,” Daines said. “I was proud to be an American that night, I was proud to be a friend of Israel.”