Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he was “heartbroken, devastated, mad” about the news of six Israeli hostages being killed by Hamas overnight. He argued the only way to secure the safe release of those remaining in captivity is to target Iran.
“Hamas could care less about the hostages or the Palestinians, and if you want the hostages home, which we all do, you have to increase the cost to Iran,” Graham said while appearing on ABC’s This Week. “Iran is the great Satan here. Hamas is the junior partner.”
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed they recovered the bodies of six Hamas hostages, including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents spoke at the Democratic National Convention, urging a hostage deal. Others recovered were Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, and Alex Lobanov. The IDF said they were murdered by Hamas shortly before the IDF reached them. Their bodies were found in a tunnel under Rafah, in Gaza.
“I would urge the Biden administration and Israel to hold Iran accountable for the fate of remaining hostages and put on the target list oil refineries in Iran if the hostages are not released,” Graham said.
As of June, output from Iran’s oil refineries was at its highest point since the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal, at 3.6 million barrels per day. Any attack on the refineries would pose a large threat to Iran’s most profitable industry.
In response to the killings, President Joe Biden released a statement saying, “Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”
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Graham doubted that targeting Hamas would secure a deal.
“Hamas could care less about the Palestinian people,” Graham said. “Mr. President, Bibi, if you want to really change things when it comes to the hostages, tell the Ayatollah what he values is on the target list. Until that happens, nobody’s coming home.”