Six Massachusetts lawmakers took a free trip to Israel as part of a wider U.S. delegation in September “to experience it as it truly is,” the Israeli government said, as Israel launched its ground offensive in Gaza City .

“You can read the news stories. You can watch it on TV. You can read the articles, but until you’re there, until you look somebody in the eye, and they tell you what happened, and you see that pain, you see where they live, you see burnt down or bombed out houses, it’s hard to actually understand,” Republican state Sen. Peter Durant said in an interview.

Three Democrats and three Republicans representing both the House and Senate attended “50 States One Israel” alongside 250 local state legislators from across the country. The conference, held from Sept. 14 through Se

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