US Diplomacy Efforts Blamed for Hamas Attack by Biden

President Joe Biden reiterated his belief that Hamas’ attack on Israel last month was a response to efforts to bring peace to the Middle East through diplomacy with Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Biden made the claim in a press conference Friday and had previously mentioned it in a campaign speech. He suggested that Hamas wanted to undermine the Abraham Accords initiated under former President Donald Trump.

“I cannot prove what I’m about to say,” Biden said on Friday. “But I believe one of the reasons why Hamas struck when they did was they knew that I was working very closely with the Saudis and others in the region to bring peace to the region by having recognition of Israel and Israel’s right to exist.”

Two days prior, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made a similar assertion in an interview with Newsmax.

“It’s connected,” Netanyahu said, “because we can achieve the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the stark arrangement, peace deal that Israel made with four Arab countries. We want to expand it to Saudi Arabia and beyond. But we’re facing here the Axis of Terror of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen,” Netanyahu told “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” in an interview that took place in Israel.

On Oct. 20, Biden stated that Hamas unleashed its attacks on Israeli civilians beginning Oct. 7 because he “was about to sit down with the Saudis,” adding “the Saudis wanted to recognize Israel.”

Biden also mentioned the rail project that would connect India to Europe through the Middle East, an effort that also involved the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.

“The whole idea there’s overwhelming interest, and I think most Arab nations know that and are coordinating with one another to change the dynamic in their region for longer term peace,” Biden said. “And that is what I’m going to continue to work on.”