Hamas says Iran supported Israeli attack, Republicans condemn Biden

Hamas militants entered Israel early Saturday in a surprise attack that killed more than 20 people 700 Israeli soldiers and citizens as well as more than 100 hostages. Hamas militants easily broke through Israel’s militarized and fortified border and launched the shocking invasion.

On Saturday evening, the Israeli security cabinet approved a declaration of war – which allows the government to “order significant military action that is almost certain to lead to war.”

Israeli forces have launched a counteroffensive, leveling several buildings in the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.

Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said this BBC that the militant group had received support from its ally Iran for its murderous attack on Israel.

However, the Biden administration has downplayed the possibility of Iran’s involvement in the Palestinian attack on Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday: “In this particular case, we have not yet seen any evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack.”

Blinken acknowledged that Hamas and Iran have “a long relationship.”

“Look, who is against normalization? Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran,” Blinken told “State of the Union” host Dana Bash. “Therefore, it would be no surprise that part of the motivation was to disrupt efforts to bring together Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as other countries that may be interested in normalizing relations with Israel.”

Republican presidential candidates criticized the Biden administration for releasing $6 billion in frozen funds to Iran.

In September, President Joe Biden agreed release Nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets as part of a deal to free five Americans who had been imprisoned in Iran for years.

Bash asked Blinken about the decision to release $6 billion to Iran.

“First, regarding the funds you mentioned that were released or made available to Iran for humanitarian purposes as part of the repatriation of Americans held and detained in Iran, let us be very clear about that,” Blinken responded. “And it is deeply regrettable that some are playing politics when so many people have lost their lives and Israel continues to be under attack.”

Blinken claimed that the funds were only for “humanitarian purposes” and “not a single dollar was spent from this account.”

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley Weighed in“I actually think it was irresponsible of Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn’t matter here. I mean, let’s be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows that they are moving money as we speak because they know that $6 billion is going to be released.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Newsmax on Saturday: “They have not only the right but also the duty to defend themselves, and they must defend themselves with overwhelming force. This is a terrorist attack equivalent to what we suffered on 9/11.”

“We also need to understand where this terrorism comes from, and the source is Iran,” the Republican governor said. “Iran funds Hamas. Iran is funding Hezbollah, which may enter this fight made possible by the Biden administration’s easing of sanctions. Iran has made much more from oil revenues under the Biden administration.”

“And then this more recent $6 billion. Yes, they say, ‘Well, that’s not what the money could be used for,’ and that may be true. But money is fungible,” DeSantis explained. “So if you give them money, $6 billion for something that they don’t have to use their own money for, and then they can redeploy it. And that’s exactly what happened. And they gave power to some really, really bad people.” . They’ve been doing this for years.”

Blinken was asked by “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker if the money was fungible.

“Iran has unfortunately always used and focused its funds on supporting terrorism, on supporting groups like Hamas, and there have been times when there have been sanctions and there have been times when there have been no sanctions. And that’s always been a priority for him,” Blinken said replied. “And I go back to the thesis that, according to the law, these funds were always available to Iran to use for humanitarian purposes. The Trump administration has set up a very similar mechanism to allow Iran to use these types of assets for humanitarian purposes. We did the same thing.”

Former President Donald Trump claims that Biden had “whittle.”[d] away” Peace in the Middle East.

“These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force,” Trump said. “Unfortunately, American tax dollars helped finance these attacks, which many reports said came from the Biden administration.”

Flash announced in May 2021: “In total, we are in the process of providing more than $360 million in urgent support to the Palestinian people, and in this effort we will work with partners to ensure that Hamas does not benefit from these reconstruction efforts.”

Previously the Washington Free Beacon reported“In 2021, more than $360 million in U.S. funding was provided to the Palestinian Authority, possibly in violation of a bipartisan law called the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits the American government from providing aid to the Palestinians as long as they Terrorists pay.”

The Biden administration provided funds to Palestine even though its own State Department feared the money would fund Hamas terrorists.

“We believe there is a high risk that Hamas may derive indirect, unintended benefits from U.S. aid to Gaza. “There is a reduced but still some risk that U.S. assistance would benefit other specific groups,” the State Department said wrote in a draft request for sanctions relief in March 2021. “Notwithstanding this risk, the State believes that it is in our national security interests to provide assistance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in support of foreign policy objectives.”

A US State Department report in 2021 stated that Iran supported terrorist activities for “Hezbollah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various terrorist and militant groups in Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, and elsewhere in the Middle East.”

To “create instability in the region,” Iran previously “provided weapons systems and other support to Hamas and other U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command.” Groups have been behind numerous deadly attacks originating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

“Iran pursued or supported terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in 2021, including a foiled attack on an Israeli embassy in East Africa in January and a bombing outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi in January for which the Indian government blamed the IRGC-QF “and a failed attack attempt on an Israeli businessman in Cyprus in October,” the State Department said.

Iran has deployed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to support terrorist organizations.

“Since the end of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, Iran has supplied Hezbollah with thousands of rockets, missiles and small arms in Lebanon, in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” the report continued. “Israeli security officials and politicians expressed concerns that Iran is supplying Hezbollah with advanced weapons systems and technologies and is helping the group build infrastructure that would allow it to produce rockets and missiles domestically to target Israel from Lebanon and Syria out to threaten. “Iran has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to support Hezbollah and trained thousands of its fighters in camps in Iran.”

Iranian officials have celebrated the devastating attack on Israel.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said on the Palestinian Operation Al-Aqsa Storm: “What happened today is consistent with the continuation of the victories of the resistance against the Zionists in various areas, including in Syria, Lebanon and the occupied territories.”

On Sunday, Hezbollah boasted that it had fired guided missiles and artillery at Israel to show it was “in solidarity” with the Palestinian people, it said Reuters. Israel Defense Forces said They responded with artillery attacks on “Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanon.

Just days before the attack, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said announced“Today the Palestinian movement is more vibrant than ever before in these 70 or 80 years.” The Honorable Imam [Khomeini]may God be pleased with him, described, the usurper [Zionist] regime as cancer. This cancer will certainly be eradicated, God willing, at the hands of the Palestinian people and resistance forces throughout the region.”

Commander of the Aerospace Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Amir Ali Hajizadeh boasted in 2021: “All the rockets you might see in Gaza and Lebanon were made with the support of Iran.”

Members of the Iranian Parliament opened their Saturday session with To sing: “Death to Israel” and “Israel will be doomed, Palestine will be the conqueror.”

Do you like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship, sign up for our newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Login here!