Former President Donald Trump laid the blame for Saturday’s Hamas attack on Israel at the feet of the Biden administration during a presidential campaign speech in Waterloo, Iowa.
The GOP candidate frontrunner said “the war happened” in part because the “United States is giving and gave to Iran $6 billion, $6 billion, over hostages.”
According to an August report in the New York Times, the U.S. reached a deal with Iran to return five hostages. In return, the U.S. agreed to return five jailed Iranians and give the country access to $6 billion in oil revenue, said the report.
Trump speculated that access to these funds allowed Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization seeking to establish an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel, to conduct its attack. According to Politico, Iran congratulated Hamas on the attack Saturday.
“They didn’t have that level of aggression with me,” Trump said of Hamas. He also said the Saturday attack was “act of savagery that must and will be crushed.”
Tension between Palestine and Israel dates back to 1948, when the state of Israel was established. Per the U.S. State Department, the U.S. was the first country to formally recognize Israel and the first to recognize Jerusalem as the capitol in 2017, when Trump was in office.
In a Saturday X post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Hamas attack claimed the lives of innocent civilians, including children and the elderly. It also took place during a Jewish holiday.
“Hamas started a cruel and evil war,” Netanyahu said. “We will win this war, but the price is too heavy to bear. This is a very difficult day for all of us.”
He also said that he spoke with President Joe Biden and other world leaders from France and England to confirm support for Israel.
“This morning, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the horrific and ongoing attacks in Israel,” said Biden Saturday. “The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the attack.
He also called for a cease to fighting and an end to bloodshed in the region.