President Joe Biden has been thrust into a Middle East crisis that risks expanding into a broader conflict and has left him fending off criticism from GOP presidential rivals that his administration’s policies led to this moment
The deadly Hamas militant attack on Israel and the massive retaliation it provoked from Jerusalem have thrust President Joe Biden into a Middle East crisis that risks expanding into a broader conflict and has left him fending off criticism from GOP presidential rivals that his administration’s policies led to this moment.
The potential for prolonged and expanding violence could test Biden’s leadership on both the world stage and at home as he tries to navigate between demonstrating unflinching support for Israel and fostering a broader peace in the combustible Mideast, where sympathetic militants were quick to loudly praise the action by Hamas.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group welcomed the attack as a response to “Israeli crimes.” The group, which holds similar goals as Hamas for the destruction of the Israeli state, said its command was in contact with Hamas about the operation. A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader also lauded the deadly attack. And Hamas said it was ready for a potentially long fight.
The Hamas attack left at least 250 dead and 1,500 wounded in Israel. And at least 232 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed and at least 1,700 wounded in retaliatory Israeli strikes.
Several 2024 Republican presidential contenders immediately tried to pin a portion of the blame on Biden. They sought to tie his recent decision to release $6 billion in blocked Iranian funds in exchange for freeing five Americans who had been detained in Iran to Saturday’s complex attack by air, land and sea. The White House pushed back fiercely against the GOP criticism, noting that the money unfrozen last month in the prisoner swap has yet to be spent by Iran and can only be used for humanitarian needs.
Iran has historically maintained strong ties with both Palestinian Hamas and Hezbollah.
A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said it was “too early to say whether the state of Iran was directly involved in planning or supporting” the complex attack but noted Iran’s deep ties to Hamas.
Biden and top aides spent Saturday consulting with European and Middle East leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In remarks before reporters at the White House, Biden called the attacks “unconscionable” and pledged his administration would ensure Israel has “what it needs to defend itself.
