WASHINGTON (CN) — As Israel ratchets up a counterattack after a surprise weekend assault by Hamas forces from Gaza, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are rushing to frame the violence as a result of White House foreign policy decisions.
Jerusalem was initially taken aback by Saturday’s attack, during which Hamas forces breached the border dividing Israel from the Palestinian territory of Gaza by land, air and sea. The incursion and Israel’s subsequent counteroffensive have seen more than 1,600 killed and thousands wounded, figures that include Israelis, Palestinians and some international citizens. Hamas forces have also taken hundreds of prisoners.
In Washington, both Congress and the White House were aligned in their support for Israel, which has long been a close ally of the U.S. thanks in part to its status as a Middle Eastern democracy and a military power.
Despite that, some lawmakers turned their ire toward President Biden, complaining that his administration had set the groundwork for Hamas’ incursion — pointing to a deal made between the White House and Iran under which Washington agreed to unfreeze roughly $6 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for the release of five American political prisoners.
Republicans had been fiercely critical of the agreement when it was struck back in September, and that resentment resurfaced this week as lawmakers accused the Biden administration of funding an attack on Israel via Iran, an ally of Hamas, which the U.S. considers a state sponsor of terrorism.
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, the Senate Banking Committee’s ranking member, said in a statement Tuesday that he would push for a congressional investigation into the release of Iran’s frozen funds.
“We should be signaling strength — not leniency — when it comes to Iran,” said Scott, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for president in the 2024 election. “I will push for Chairman [Sherrod] Brown to invite and urge Treasury Secretary Yellen to testify as soon as possible on the $6 billion recently transferred to Iran and any sanctions gaps we might have with respect to Iran.”
The South Carolina Republican added that the Senate should look into the White House’s decision to “allow a transfer of $6 billion to Iran and how it could expect Iran to not use that money to continue to fuel terrorism.”
As it stands, there is no evidence that Tehran has used the unfrozen funds — unpaid oil dues from South Korea currently held in a Qatari bank — to finance Hamas. A senior Hamas official has said that Iran had no role in the developing attack.
The State Department has also said that, under the September deal, Iran would only be permitted to use the cash for humanitarian purposes.
In a letter to the White House dated Monday, however, a group of Senate Republicans pushed back on that claim.
“Money is fungible,” said the lawmakers, who included Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. “There is a significant risk they could be used to further efforts by Iran or Hamas against Israel.”
The senators also argued that allowing Iran access to funds for humanitarian purposes gives them wiggle room to reallocate funds to other activities — such as supporting terrorist groups.
“The State Department should immediately rescind the waivers that allowed Iranian funds to be converted and moved to more accessible banks accounts,” the letter read, “as well as work with U.S. ally Qatar to immediately freeze the accounts containing these funds.”
During a Sunday appearance on CNN, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “not a single dollar has been spent” from the unfrozen assets. “The account is closely regulated by the U.S. Treasury Department, so it can only be used for things like food, medicine and medical equipment.”
Blinken also took a shot at lawmakers seeking to leverage the violence in Israel against President Biden.
“It’s deeply unfortunate that some are playing politics when so many lives have been lost and Israel remains under attack,” he said.
Washington, meanwhile, has joined the international community in pledging its continued support for Israel. In a joint statement Tuesday alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President Biden denounced Hamas’ incursion.
“We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned,” the group of world leaders wrote.
Hamas has been the de facto governing body of Gaza since 2007. The faction, which views the state of Israel as illegitimate, has long held that the current government in Jerusalem must be deposed by force.
Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization, has for years held a blockade against Gaza and its Palestinian population, a move that some detractors have called a violation of human rights. The country has also long occupied a Palestinian territory in the region’s western reaches known as the West Bank — an operation that has been ongoing for nearly 60 years.
Israel is currently under control of a conservative government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas has denounced the Netanyahu government’s recent policy towards Palestinians, arguing that Israel was planning to assassinate some of its top officials and pointing to enormous numbers of Palestinian prisoners held by Israeli security forces.
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