Israel war: DeSantis blasts Biden for sending aid to Gaza over freeing American hostages

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) lambasted President Joe Biden on Tuesday for prioritizing giving aid to Gaza over rescuing American hostages taken by the terrorist group Hamas after it launched a surprise attack on Israel earlier this month.

“Innocent Americans and Israelis are being held hostage by Hamas terrorists, yet Biden is more focused on sending ‘humanitarian aid’ to Gaza that will be commandeered by Hamas terrorists,” DeSantis posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with a link to a headline that indicated the United States and Israel were developing an aid plan.

ISRAEL WAR: NEARLY 200 PEOPLE HELD HOSTAGE BY TERRORIST GROUPS IN GAZA

“Biden should work with Israel to free all American and Israeli hostages, not shower Hamas with money,” DeSantis said.

After Hamas’s surprise attack, 199 people were taken hostage, according to the Israeli military, a number higher than estimates. There remain roughly 13 Americans who are unaccounted for and 30 who perished in the attacks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday that the U.S. and Israel agreed to get humanitarian aid to residents in the Gaza Strip with the stipulation it won’t help Hamas. Blinken also announced that Biden would travel on Wednesday to Israel, where he will reiterate the country’s right to self-defense and learn more about how it will minimize civilian casualties.

Biden told CBS News’s 60 Minutes about the American hostages, “We’re going to do everything in our power to find them.”

“We’re working like hell on it,” the president said.

Israel has faced criticism that its retaliatory attacks against Hamas are creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The war, which started on Oct. 7, has led to more than 4,000 people dead and forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee to safety.

DeSantis called for the U.S. to reject refugees from Gaza, saying they are “all antisemitic,” and challenged the entire 2024 field to embrace his position.

His chief rival (and the current GOP 2024 front-runner), former President Donald Trump, rejected the U.S. accepting refugees from Gaza during a campaign rally in Clive, Iowa, on Monday afternoon. “We aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza or Syria or Somalia or Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security,” Trump said.

“If you’re coming from somewhere full of people who want to kill Americans, we will not let you in,” he also said.

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Mike Brest contributed to this report.