On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of his regional trip in the aftermath of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
During the fighting, the Hamas terrorist group, which has been funded by Iran, and other Islamic terror organizations fired more than 4,000 rockets out of Gaza. To stop those rockets, Israel launched a massive surgical bombing campaign.
Netanyahu told Blinken he hoped the U.S. will not renew the nuclear deal with Iran and that if necessary Israel will chart its own course.
He said, “We also reiterated that whatever happens Israel will always reserve the right to defend itself against a regime committed to our destruction, committed to getting the weapons of mass destruction for that end.”
Blinken came with a message to rebuild Gaza after many buildings were destroyed in the Israeli bombing campaign. Many of those buildings were empty since Israel has a policy of warning residents to leave those buildings to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas also implemented a policy as it has in the past of embedding its military infrastructure within civilian areas to use people as human shields.
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The U.S. has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild Gaza. Blinken said, “The United States will work to rally international support around that effort while also making our own significant contributions including some that I will announce later today. We’ll work with our partners, closely with all to ensure that Hamas does not benefit.”
For many, it’s an open question to see how U.S. and international aid can rebuild Gaza without benefiting Hamas.
The question many are asking too is where did Hamas get all those rockets it fired in the 11 day war? After the conflict, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gave much of the credit to Iran.
He said, “I cannot but thank those who brought forth money and weaponry to the valiant resistance, the Islamic republic of Iran; who did not hold back money, weapons and technical support.”
During the conflict, Prime Minister Netanyahu displayed an Iranian drone intercepted on the Jordanian border.
He said, “It says everything on the true patron of terror in the Middle East in the world – Iran.”
It’s this flagrant support of Hamas and other terror groups in the region that led 44 Republican senators to send a letter to President Biden to suspend its nuclear talks with the Islamic regime.
Many, like former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, are concerned sanctions relief would enable Iran to export its terror throughout the region.
He told CBN News, “Iran is stirring the pot in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Gaza. That’s all of Iran’s terror proxies in the region which is another reason why what’s going on in Gaza, we shouldn’t lose sight of who the big enemy is – Iran. I hope very much that the U.S. administration will not go back into the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran and it will continue to keep the pressure on that Iranian regime that represents a threat to us. It represents a threat to our Arab neighbors and it represents a threat to peace throughout the region.”
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