United States aid given to Gaza could very well end up in the hands of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) warned following President Biden announcing $100 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank.
Biden made the announcement last week, asserting that the funding “will support more than one million displaced in conflict-affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza.”
Biden’s monetary requests have come under intense scrutiny for a number of reasons, one of which involves tying Ukraine aid to aid for Israel. Blackburn is among those who have criticized Biden for involving Ukraine aid in his pitch for assisting Israel, writing mere days ago, “Tonight, Biden should announce he is freezing $6 billion for Iran, halting aid to Gaza, placing sanctions on Iranian oil, and firing Jake Sullivan. He should not be tying aid to Israel with aid to Ukraine, or the border.”
Tonight, Biden should announce he is freezing $6 billion for Iran, halting aid to Gaza, placing sanctions on Iranian oil, and firing Jake Sullivan. He should not be tying aid to Israel with aid to Ukraine, or the border.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 20, 2023
Blackburn has also warned that providing aid to Gaza could further fuel terrorism in the region.
“Even last week, we got a report that Hamas was intersecting [sic] aid that was going and whether it is money, food, fuel, even first aid kits and medical supplies — they’re taking it all and it is not even Gazans,” Blackburn said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“So, we’ve got to move to a position where humanitarian aid is going to make it to people that are suffering, and not terrorists,” she explained.
“The majority of the American people support Israel, and they want to make certain that aid is going to make it to people who need that aid,” the senator continued. “You now have this progressive group that conducts themselves as if they are Hamas sympathizers, and that is incredibly disappointing to see.”
Following the devastating October 7 massacre, Blackburn made it clear that Israel must know the United States stands with it as it confronts Hamas.
She said during an appearance on Fox News:
We know that when we had President Trump, that he cut aid to Palestine. President Biden chose to re-up that aid, even surpassing the amounts they had had before. And for Congress, it is going to be important to realize that a strong defense helps the United States protect ourselves. It also helps our allies, and making certain that people who are our allies know that they are our allies and we’re going to be true to our word and we’re going to stand with them is something that is important. And our adversaries need to fear us, and we need to be true to that.
In the days following the terrrorist attack, Blackburn has called for Biden to cancel the $6 billion “ransom” agreement to Iran and has also made it clear that she opposes resettling refugees from Gaza in the United States, telling Breitbart News Daily’s Mike Slater that “the countries in the region need to do this.”
“They should step up and accept these refugees. We do not need to take any of these Palestinian refugees into the United States,” she insisted.
“When you look at what is happening in Palestine, when you look at … this attack from Hamas, which is a part of the government, and when you look at the immigration papers, where you have to note that you have not been fighting against the United States, we should not take individuals until this is all settled,” she said, adding, “These individuals who are fleeing Gaza need to be going into Egypt, Jordan, and other Muslim countries that are in the region.”
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