Day: October 17, 2023

Claim:

A video shared on Oct. 17, 2023, showed U.S. President Joe Biden arriving in Israel after Hamas’ attack in October 2023.

The timing of the attack could not have been better for Putin, who coincidentally was celebrating his birthday on Oct. 7, when hundreds of Hamas terrorists entered Israel and slaughtered more the 1,300 civilians. Russia’s main foreign policy goal right now is to distract the world from its ongoing invasion and atrocities in Ukraine. Specifically, Moscow is pushing for an end to U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, which is hanging by a thin thread in Congress. The crisis in Israel aids these efforts. Moscow’s interest is in stoking it, not solving it.

While there is no clear evidence that Russian leaders knew about the Hamas attacks in advance, the Kremlin is working hard to take advantage. Russia has stepped up its support for Hamas diplomatically and in the propaganda war; it’s also seizing the opportunity to ramp up its violence in Ukraine while the world is distracted. On Oct. 8, senior Hamas official Ali Baraka praised Russia’s assistance in an interview with Russia Today, a state-controlled media outlet.

“There are countries that support us politically. Even Russia sympathizes with us,” he said. “Russia is happy that America is getting embroiled in the Palestinian war. It eases the pressure on the Russians in Ukraine. One war eases the pressure in another war. So, we’re not alone on the battlefield.”

Russia’s true level of actual military support to Hamas is hard to pin down, but there are several telltale signs. Baraka said Hamas possessed Russian licenses to produce the Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition its terrorists used in the assault. Ukrainian officials have claimed that Russia’s mercenary firm Wagner helped train Hamas soldiers. Meanwhile, Palestinian terrorist groups reportedly launder illicit funds through a Moscow-based crypto exchange.

Reports of direct Russian military support for Hamas remain unconfirmed, U.S. officials told me. But the military collaboration between Russia and Iran in Ukraine also seems to have benefited Hamas. Iranian and Russian cooperation on armed drones has flourished during the Ukraine war. Now, Hamas is using similar drones against Israeli targets in new ways.

More overtly, Moscow has turned its massive propaganda and foreign influence operation into a pro-Hamas, anti-Western disinformation machine. Even before the war, Russian media was pushing the notion that U.S. arms for Ukraine have somehow ended up in the hands of terrorists plotting against Israel. After the attack, Pro-Russia videos of murky origins circulated that accused Ukraine of arming Hamas, disguised as fake BBC reports.

Russian officials and propaganda outlets have unanimously blamed the United States for the current violence in Israel, and pointed to Washington’s attention on Ukraine to explain the U.S. government’s supposed neglect of rising Middle East tensions.

“These Kremlin narratives target Western audiences to drive a wedge in military support for Ukraine, seek to demoralize Ukrainian society by claiming Ukraine will lose international support, and intend to reassure Russian domestic audiences that the international society will ignore Ukraine’s war effort,” stated a report by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

Of course, the relationship between Russia and Hamas is not new. Putin first invited Hamas leaders to Moscow in 2006, and Hamas delegations have been visiting Moscow ever since. Russia has never declared Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and has long taken a pro-Palestinian stance diplomatically.

But the new war breaks the recent trend of cordial, even businesslike relations between Russia and Israel. Israel had shied away from overtly helping Ukraine because it needed Russia’s acquiescence to strike targets inside Syria. Now, Russia seems fully committed to helping Hamas and Iran, especially in the diplomatic arena.

On Oct. 13, Russia put forth a draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council that calls for an immediate cease-fire and condemns all acts of terrorism — but does not mention Hamas. Russia’s U.N. ambassador gave a speech Saturday blaming the United States for the “looming war” in the Middle East and condemning Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians.

“I think that many people will agree with me that this is a vivid example of the failure of United States policy in the Middle East,” Putin said.

Putin’s focus of blame on the United States, rather than the terrorists, shows his hand. His priority is not solving the crisis, but rather tying it to his greater war against the West. It is crucial to recognize that Russia, Iran and Hamas are all working together against the United States, Europe, Ukraine and Israel.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech to NATO last week, “the only difference is that there is a terrorist organization that attacked Israel, and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine.”

President Biden will soon request new emergency funding for both Israel and Ukraine. Congress must approve both parts of the package — and quickly. If the United States abandons Ukraine by cutting off aid, Putin’s strategy will have succeeded.

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he believes the Hamas militant group must be eliminated but there should be a path to a Palestinian state, after top U.S. officials warned the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate.

Biden did not think American troops would be necessary on the ground as Israel has one of the “finest fighting forces,” even as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Israel unleashed a ferocious bombing campaign over Gaza in retaliation for unprecedented attacks by Hamas eight days ago that killed some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians.

When asked if he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, Biden said “Yes, I do. But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,” he said during a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday.

The U.S. President warned it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza but that “taking out” Hezbollah and Hamas was a “a necessary requirement.” He said “It would be a mistake to … for Israel to occupy … Gaza again.”

Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It withdrew its settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005, before Hamas’ takeover of the Strip in 2007.

The conflict has sent tensions soaring.

“There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran’s involvement,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS earlier in the day.

Gaza authorities say more than 2,670 people have been killed there, a quarter of them children. Casualties are expected to rise as Israel prepares for a ground assault on the tiny, densely populated enclave that could start within days.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday, calling it a sign of “our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war.”

The aircraft carrier the Dwight Eisenhower will join a small fleet including the massive Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean.

“Iran is the elephant in the room,” a U.S. official briefed on the situation said about the increasing military presence. “The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict.”

Biden said his message to Iran is to not escalate the conflict.

Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Sunday his country could act, telling al Jazeera that it had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that “if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer.”

“If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America,” he warned.

Biden told CBS the threat of terrorism in the U.S. has increased due to growing unrest in the Middle East. He said, however, the U.S. can take care of wars in Israel and Ukraine and still maintain its “international defense.”

Violence on Israel’s northern border is already escalating. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters launched attacks on Israeli army posts and a northern border village on Sunday; Israel retaliated with strikes in Lebanon.

The U.S. is urging Israel to hold off on its ground offensive to allow humanitarian efforts for Gaza’s residents trapped in the area, several U.S. officials said.

Sullivan discussed a new weapons package for Israel and Ukraine that would be “significantly higher” than the previously reported $2 billion. He told CBS that Biden planned to have intensive talks on the package this week with the U.S. Congress, which has been hobbled by Republicans’ struggles to pick a new speaker of the House of Representatives.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, speaking in Tel Aviv on Sunday, said the U.S. Senate could move first to approve more funding for Israel. “We’re not waiting for the House (of Representatives),” he said.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday he is traveling to the region with other senators in coming days to push continued negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Graham said he intended to introduce a bill that would “allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business” if Iran attacks Israel.

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

U.S. government officials also said they are mobilizing to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, anticipating a brutal ground offensive.

Israeli officials have made clear it will not be an easy or swift campaign. It faces the challenge that scores of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 could now be held in a warren of underground tunnels, which its soldiers must clear to destroy Hamas.

Biden, in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, said: “We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’ appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them.”

The U.S. has appointed former ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield as a special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. His focus would be to “promote the safety of civilians,” the State Department said.

“We’re pushing Israel to delay any action on the ground,” said one U.S. official briefed on the situation. Asked directly if the U.S. was pushing Israel to delay its ground war for civilians, Sullivan told NBC “we are not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions…”

However, he added, the U.S. is telling Israel any actions should follow the law of war, and that “civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza would reopen and the U.S. was working with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to get assistance through it.

Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing.

Sullivan told NBC, “so far, we have not been able to get American citizens through the border crossing and I’m not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time.”

He added that he wanted to make sure the civilian population that remained in Gaza had access to food, water and safe shelter, and in an interview with CNN said Israeli officials had recently “turned the water pipe back on in southern Gaza.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Reuters that the Israel assault on Gaza would be bloody.

“I expect urban warfare on steroids,” he said. “There will be cries from the international community for Israel to stand down, but I think it’s imperative that we give Israel the time and space to destroy Hamas.”

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

President Joe Biden will make an extraordinary wartime visit to Israel this week as he seeks to demonstrate staunch support for the country as it works to eliminate Hamas while also pressing for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza.

The dueling objectives, spelled out by his top diplomat Monday evening, bring with them significant risks for the president as he works to prevent the crisis in the Middle East from widening.

Aides said Biden had expressed a strong interest in making the journey after being invited over the weekend by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Biden has known for four decades. He spent Monday deliberating over the trip at the White House with his top national security and intelligence advisers.

Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was convening a marathon session with top Israeli officials to discuss opening Gaza to humanitarian aid and preventing civilians from getting caught up in Israel’s response to the terror attacks.

In announcing Biden’s Wednesday trip after more than seven hours of negotiations, Blinken said that the United States and Israel “have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza.”

The US president will also travel to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah II, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The top US diplomat in recent days met separately with the three leaders – all of whom have condemned the situation in Gaza.

The security risks of a diplomatic visit to Israel were starkly illustrated Monday when Blinken, in his meeting with Netanyahu, was forced to shelter in place after air sirens warned of incoming rockets. White House officials said they’d carefully weighed the risks of a presidential visit, and deemed it safe enough both to execute and announce ahead of time.

The president’s visit will build on Blinken’s seven nation, multi-day tour of the Middle East, which comes as the US tries to strike a delicate balance of providing unwavering support for Israel’s military operations while mitigating the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and stopping the war from spreading to further fronts.

Biden will “make it clear that we want to continue to work with all our partners in the region, including Israel, to get humanitarian assistance and again to provide some sort of safe passage for civilians to get out,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday evening.

It wasn’t clear ahead of Biden’s visit whether any progress had been made on the opening of the Rafah crossing in Egypt – the only viable route to access Gaza. Blinken said the agreement to work on the plan was done at the US’ request, and they “welcome the government of Israel’s commitment to work on this plan.”

“It is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible,” Blinken said, noting that the US shares “Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it.”

“If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it. And we will work to prevent it from happening again,” he said.

Biden, he said, “very much looks forward to discussing it further” during his visit.

In weighing Netanyahu’s invitation with his team, Biden factored in both the symbolism of a visit and its practicalities. Aside from a high-profile show of support for Israel, the trip will send a warning to other players in the region, namely Iran and its Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon, about becoming further engaged in the conflict.

But it will also link Biden more closely with the Israeli response in Gaza, including concerns over a mounting humanitarian crisis, and could act as a tacit endorsement of Netanyahu’s decisions.

The pressure on Biden to encourage restraint was evident Monday in front of the White House, where a large protest led by progressive Jewish groups called on him to push for a ceasefire. Loud singing and chanting could be heard from inside the gates.

The conflict is forcing a new assessment of the administration’s immediate foreign policy priorities, with the reality setting in that renewed violence in the Middle East will now occupy the bulk of the president’s time at least in the near-term.

Huddling in the Oval Office on Monday, Biden discussed the latest developments on the ground with top national security advisers, including the administration’s two leading intelligence officials.

While Biden has stopped well short of encouraging a ceasefire – the word hasn’t been used at all in the administration’s response so far – he has issued steadily stronger warnings about protecting civilian life, including during his telephone calls with Netanyahu. Biden and Blinken, advisers say, have upheld a moral high ground and cemented credibility with the Israelis by remaining sympathetic to civilian and humanitarian needs, while reinforcing their commitment to the security state.

Traveling to Israel in person may provide Biden – who has long espoused the importance of face-to-face meetings – a better opportunity to convey those views to his Israeli counterpart, a leader with whom he believes he has a deep understanding. Before war in Israel broke out, Biden and Netanyahu were planning to visit in person again at the White House, a personal invitation Biden extended when the two last met in New York City.

Already, in their phone calls, the men have discussed the importance of adhering to the rules of war. In an interview that aired Sunday, Biden offered his most public statement urging restraint, saying it would be a “mistake” for Israel to try reoccupying Gaza.

Speaking to reporters Monday, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said a visit by Biden would have “strategic importance” for the entire Middle East.

“The most senior representative of the USA comes to Israel for a full report on the war in the Middle East and all the action we have to take,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters when asked earlier about a possible visit by the US president.

“Right now, we are focusing on Gaza and the steps that we are going to take to prepare for war and that is how we will progress,” he added.

The last time that Biden made a last-minute and highly secretive trip abroad was in February, when he visited Kyiv, Ukraine, around the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

With only a small group of some of his senior-most advisers even aware of the plans ahead of time – and ultimately with just one reporter and one photographer in tow – the president quietly rode a train across the Polish-Ukrainian border to enter an active war-zone.

His brief visit served as a remarkable show of solidarity for the Ukrainian people and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, which the White House hoped would also translate to a forceful rallying cry for the US’ allies to continue supporting Ukraine’s cause.

But unlike his visit to Ukraine earlier this year, his expected to Israel this week marks a remarkably swift decision to visit the country only days after the outbreak of war. Those familiar with Biden’s decadeslong relationship with Netanyahu say it is clear the administration’s response to Hamas’ attacks is being shaped in no small way by Biden’s personal friendship with Netanyahu – and his desire to demonstrate his unequivocal support for the prime minister.

American officials spent much of the weekend watching with growing concern the potential for the war widening, and sending public and private signals to Iran to stay out of the conflict.

From his first phone call with Netanyahu last weekend, Biden has raised concern that a northern front could open along Israel’s border with Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has been engaging sporadically with Israeli forces.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that the administration was engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Tehran to send the same message it has been conveying publicly about not escalating the crisis further.

“Rhetorically, they’re cranking it up,” said a person close to the situation. “But they’re backing it up with hardware.”

For Biden and his team, the risks of a wider conflict include the potential of further engaging American military assets in defending Israel. Though the White House has said repeatedly there are no plans to send American troops to Israel – in part because Israel itself does not want it – there is the potential US air and naval assets become further involved if a multi-front war breaks out.

Over the weekend, Biden ordered a second US aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean, bolstering what he and other officials have described as a deterrence posture. The military muscle is intended to send a signal to Iran to stay out.

Yet behind the scenes, Biden and his team are discussing the various possibilities should the crisis escalate.

“We can’t rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged some way. We have to prepare for every possible contingency,” Sullivan said on CBS.

The outbreak of violence is forcing the Biden administration to closely engage with – and heavily lean on – actors in the region with histories of glaring human rights violations.

US officials have been actively discussing with their counterparts in Egypt the establishment of a humanitarian corridor that would allow civilians – including hundreds of American citizens – to escape Israel’s counteroffensive attacks raining down in Gaza. But those efforts have yet to be fruitful.

Over the weekend, scenes of chaos and confusion poured out of southern Gaza, where families attempting to leave found that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remained closed, despite having been previously told that there would be a midday window to leave.

The issue had been a major topic of discussion between Blinken and el-Sisi, and after their in-person meeting, Blinken pledged Sunday that “Rafah will be open.”

Blinken’s frenzied multi-day trip to the region also included a stop in Saudi Arabia, a country that Biden, as a presidential candidate, had pledged to make a “pariah” on the global stage after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The secretary of state met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader whom the US intelligence community concluded had approved the operation to kill Khashoggi.

Such direct and swift courtship of the region’s strongman leaders is a clear signal of the administration’s determination to prevent the conflict from spreading beyond Israel’s borders.

This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.