Former US president Donald Trump criticized his successor, President Joe Biden, for failing to support Israel in its conflict with Hamas.
During the first US presidential debate, Trump accused Biden of acting “like a Palestinian” by not doing more to help Israel eliminate the Gaza-based militant group.
In a section of the debate focusing on foreign policy, moderated by CNN in Atlanta, Georgia, Trump criticized Biden for failing to adequately address the situation in Gaza.
Biden stated that he had secured a three-stage plan to end the war in Gaza, endorsed by “everyone from the United Nations Security Council, straight through the G7 to the Israelis and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
“The only one who wants the war to continue is Hamas,” Biden said.
Trump, however, claimed that his opponent was wrong to believe Hamas was “the only one who wants to keep going” and suggested that Israel was “the one that wants to go.” The former president insisted that Washington should have allowed the Jewish State to “finish the job” against the Palestinian militants.
“He doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian,” Trump said of Biden. “But they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one.”
Biden acknowledged that his administration had withheld a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel but argued that these munitions “don’t work very well in populated areas” and “kill a lot of innocent people.”
He asserted that his government had provided Israel with all other necessary weapons and had “saved Israel,” emphasizing the US as the “biggest producer of support for Israel than anyone in the world.”
“We’ll continue to send our experts and our intelligence people so that they get Hamas like we did Bin Laden,” the president declared, suggesting that Hamas has already been “greatly weakened” and “should be eliminated.”
Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas after the Palestinian militant group carried out a surprise attack on southern Israel, taking over 200 hostages and killing more than 1,200 people. The conflict has caused significant destruction in Gaza, with over 37,000 deaths reported by the enclave’s health ministry during the months of fighting.