The Biden administration is under fire after reportedly withholding intelligence on the locations of senior Hamas officials to pressure Is...
The Biden administration is under fire after reportedly withholding intelligence on the locations of senior Hamas officials to pressure Israel into giving up its planned invasion of Rafah.
Biden officials have reportedly offered to supply Israel with intelligence on top Hamas officials in exchange for assurances that the Israeli military will not conduct a full-scale invasion of Rafah, which Israeli officials have repeatedly promised to do in order to take out the remaining battalions of Hamas left in the Gaza Strip, according to The Washington Post.
Critics blasted the proposal, accusing President Joe Biden of withholding information that could finish the Israel-Hamas war faster, as well as potentially lead to the rescue of hostages still held by Hamas.
“Is there anything more cynical than this? More repulsive? The administration says it has intel on the wherabouts [sic] of the Hamas terror masters but will only share if Israel agrees not to eradicate Hamas. This is an ally? This is a friend?” said Caroline Glick, the senior contributing editor at the Jewish News Syndicate.
Ilan Berman, a senior vice president at the American Foreign Policy Council, posted: “Am I reading this right?!?! Has the U.S. had info on the locations of Hamas leaders (and presumably the hostages) that it’s kept from Israel up until now?? Methinks the White House has a bit of explaining to do.”
HotAir managing editor Ed Morrissey said: “Biden, US intel have intel on locations of hostages, Hamas leaders but haven’t shared it with Israel. That’s not how the WaPo spins it, but that’s exactly what this means.”
The report comes after President Joe Biden said last week that the U.S. would freeze offensive military aid to Israel if the Israeli military invades Rafah.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a member of the war cabinet that is currently in charge of the Israeli government, responded to Biden’s threat in a video statement
“If Israel needs to stand alone, it will stand alone,” Netanyahu said.
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