Ron DeSantis challenges GOP rivals to oppose Biden’s $100 million ‘gift to Hamas’

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) challenged the entire GOP primary field to oppose President Joe Biden‘s announcement of $100 million in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Biden made the announcement on Wednesday during his trip to Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog and reiterated American support for the beleaguered nation.

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“Joe Biden just announced $100 million of your taxpayer dollars going to the Gaza Strip. They say it’s humanitarian assistance. We know Hamas is going to commandeer that money, and Hama is going to use it to advance terrorism,” DeSantis said. “I say no U.S. tax dollars to the Gaza Strip.”

DeSantis pointed to the nearly 200 hostages taken by Hamas after the group launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 as part of his opposition to providing aid to Gaza. “There are American hostages being held by Hamas. How are you funding them when they’re holding Americans as well as others hostage?” DeSantis continued. “I challenge every Republican running: Step up to the plate. Join me in opposing Biden’s $100 million gift to Hamas.”

The Florida governor previously challenged his 2024 Republican rivals to reject the United States allowing Gaza refugees entrance over the weekend, citing alleged “antisemitism.” Some of his rivals, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, have embraced DeSantis’s challenge.

Trump, in particular, claimed he would revive his controversial 2017 travel ban of predominately Muslim countries if reelected president. “Democrats fought us like crazy over the travel ban. You know that. They fought us like crazy. I had to go through the whole court system, but after 18 months in court, the Supreme Court finally ruled the travel ban was totally constitutional because we want to keep bad people out that want to destroy our country,” Trump said on Monday during a Clive, Iowa, campaign rally.

“I banned refugees from Syria, I banned refugees from Somalia — very dangerous places — and from all of the most dangerous places all over the world,” he continued. “I banned them. I said, ‘I’m sorry.’ And in my second term, we’re going to expand each and every one of those bans because we have no choice. Some very rough people. Some very, very rough people come out of those areas. They want to blow up our country. We aren’t bringing in anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, or Libya or anywhere else. That threatens our security.”

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DeSantis welcomed a second flight of stranded American citizens in Israel into Florida on Wednesday, two days after the first flight of nearly 300 Americans landed in the Sunshine State.

The war between Israel and Hamas has claimed more than 4,000 lives, and more than a million people have fled the Gaza Strip ahead of Israel’s expected invasion.