The Washington Free Beacon reported back in August that the Biden administration knew its Palestinian aid would benefit Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist group that on Saturday attacked Israel.
Internal State Department documents from 2021 said that "Hamas could potentially derive indirect, unintentional benefit from U.S. assistance to Gaza"—a violation of laws that ban the government from giving taxpayer aid to Palestinian terror groups. The department wrote up the documents, which the watchdog group Protect the Public's Trust originally obtained, as the Biden administration publicly declared the aid would be "consistent with U.S. law."
The Biden administration in 2021 restarted U.S. taxpayer-funded payments to the Palestinians, which the Trump administration had cut off because of the Palestinian Authority's support for terrorists.
That report takes on new meaning in light of Hamas's attack on Israel, the worst in the Jewish state's history. As of Sunday, Hamas terrorists have killed more than 600 Israelis and wounded thousands more, taking at least 100 Israelis captive in Gaza, Reuters reported. The group also killed nine Americans, the State Department announced Monday. Photos and videos across social media show Hamas murdering, kidnapping, and raping Israeli civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.
The Biden administration just last month gave $6 billion to Iran, which supports Hamas and helped plan the terrorist group's attack, as part of a hostage exchange. That payment, the Free Beacon reported, "likely allowed Iran to reallocate significant parts of its budget—including funds it would have been forced to spend on food and medical aid—toward its global terror operations."
While the Biden administration says the deal had no connection to the attacks, policy analysts are skeptical of that claim. Former State Department adviser Gabriel Noronha said the payment "freed up huge reserves to ensure that Iran could continue this support" for Hamas, with Iran expert Jonathan Schanzer telling the Free Beacon that the hostage deal also encouraged Hamas's hostage-taking during this attack.
President Joe Biden is also facing sharp criticism from his Republican presidential rivals, the Associated Press reported, with former president Donald Trump saying the world sees the United States as "weak and ineffective" under Biden and Florida governor Ron DeSantis saying the president's policies have "helped to fill [Iran's] coffers."