Hamas attack on Israel thrusts Biden into Mideast crisis and has him fending off GOP criticism

WASHINGTON — The Hamas militant attack on Israel and the massive retaliation it provoked from Jerusalem have thrust President Joe Biden into a Middle East crisis that risks expanding into a broader conflict and has left him fending off criticism from GOP presidential rivals that his administration’s policies led to this moment. “Hamas wouldn’t be around in the way that it is without the support that it’s received from Iran over the years,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during interviews on the Sunday news shows, but he acknowledged that “we have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack.” Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Israeli officials. “So to the extent that this was designed to try to derail the efforts that were being made, that speaks volumes.” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry in a statement did not condemn the Hamas attack, but noted the kingdom’s “repeated warnings of the dangers … of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities.” Jonathan Schanzer, an analyst at the Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Biden did “a good job” at keeping Israel’s critics, particularly his fellow Democrats, at bay while Netanyahu sought to achieve his military objectives against Hamas during their last major conflict, an 11-day war in 2021. And either way, it’s wrong,” Blinken said in the broadcast interviews, calling it “deeply unfortunate that some are playing politics when so many lives have been lost and Israel remains under attack.” Asked about the argument that Iran, in anticipation of using the money — now held in Qatari banks — for food, medicine, medical supplies and agricultural products, may have diverted other funds to Hamas or other proxies, Blinken said those assets have been available to Tehran, under the law, for humanitarian purposes. But he also said Iran “has unfortunately always used and focused its funds on supporting terrorism, on supporting groups like Hamas.” In a briefing with Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff on Saturday, administration officials said the U.S. had warned Iran “through interlocutors” that direct involvement in the Gaza situation would imperil any future initiatives the U.S. might consider with the Islamic Republic, according to a congressional aide familiar with the session.