Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) said Israel will have to respond with tremendous force and slammed President Joe Biden for putting policies in place that fueled the conflict.
Several Republicans, including multiple 2024 presidential candidates, have alleged the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas used funds from $6 billion of frozen Iranian oil revenue the Biden administration recently unfroze as part of a prisoner exchange.
ISRAELI MILITARY CONFIRMS HAMAS HOLDING SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS HOSTAGE FOLLOWING SURPRISE ATTACK
A spokeswoman for the White House’s National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, denied the accusations, writing on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, “These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation.”
Treasury undersecretary Brian Nelson also rejected any allegation that the funds from the recent deal were used to carry out attacks.
“All of the money held in restricted accounts in Doha as part of the arrangement to secure the release of 5 Americans in September remains in Doha. Not a penny has been spent,” Nelson wrote on X. “These restricted funds cannot go to Iran — it can only be used for future humanitarian-related purposes. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and misleading.”
“I think that’s absolutely absurd given the fact that the president of Iran posted on Twitter that he would use the $6 billion in any way that he sees fit,” Mills said when asked about the White House’s response in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government will determine how to spend the unfrozen $6 billion. When asked in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt about the use of the funds, Raisi said that the money will be spent “wherever we need it.”
“We know this historically, that every time we have released funds to Iran, who is the largest state sponsor of terror, that proxy militias within the region has continued attacks and try and destabilize or target Western allies or Americans in general,” Mills said.
Multiple reports have indicated the $6 billion has not been spent yet and remains in a Qatari bank under the watch of the U.S. Treasury. Chief National Security Correspondent for Fox News, Jennifer Griffin, said she spoke to “several senior officials who were involved in the unfreezing” of the funds. The Washington Examiner was not immediately able to confirm those reports.
“The $6 billion was sent to what has been described to me as an even more secure bank account in Qatar where it still sits. To withdraw any of the money the US Treasury still has to validate the bills of lading for the money to be used. The Qataris have oversight over the money,” Griffin wrote on X.
Mills said the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, led by Hassan Nasrallah, is “looking to even mobilize the Hezbollah forces. And potentially, we could see Iranian proxy militias out of Syria being organized and continuing on.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war following the deadly attacks. Mills praised Netanyahu’s quick declaration of war, noting “a very swift and violent counter-offensive is needed” to take out “Hamas targets within the Gaza area and around Gaza.”
Mills said a “strong condemnation” of Hamas from the United States is necessary, but moral support for Israel as well as they fight to push Hamas out of their territory.
The attacks have been occurring for several hours, with Hamas claiming to have fired more than 5,000 rockets into Israel.
“This is by far the largest terrorist attack in recent history against Israel,” Mills said. “This is their 9/11, and this is clearly a failure in intelligence collection. This is a failure in readiness.”
“I mean, the unprecedented price that the enemy must pay in order to try and go ahead and ensure that this doesn’t ever happen again is going to have to be pretty significant,” he added.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Mills warned that how Biden responds to Hamas’s attack will be important for how the world views the U.S. Mills pointed out how different alliances, such as BRICS, which includes top competitors China and Russia as well as Brazil, India, and South Africa, pose a “threat to U.S. devaluation,” adding the country needs to watch these alignments because “weakness invites aggression.”
“It’s the opposite of what we had under President Trump and President Reagan, which was peace through strength mechanism,” Mills said.“And so we have to be more cognizant that our domestic and our foreign policies are intrinsically linked, and how we are viewed on the world stage will determine how our allies stand with us, how developing nations view us, and how our adversaries fear us.”
