The State of Israel intends to attack the city of Rafah in their war to exterminate Hamas in retaliation for the horrific attacks of October 7th. However, the Biden Administration cautioned this would be a "red line," out of concern for civilian casualties. Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) issued a brief statement in response to the remark, "Hunting terrorists where they go is how you win. Giving them a place to go to hide and regroup is how you lose."
The Wall Street Journal reported on President Biden's remarks, telling MSNBC, "It is a red line, but I am never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So there is no red line I am going to cut off all weapons, so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them. But there are red lines that if he crosses…. You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead."
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said destroying Hamas "cannot be achieved without collapsing and clearing Hamas’s forces from Rafah."
As Rep. Mast noted in his press release, the Biden Administration seems to be actively hamstringing the Israeli government and its ability to fight Hamas, the "red line" remark coming just days after the announcement of the construction of a pier through which American aid could be delivered to Palestinian civilians.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently argued against the construction of the pier, saying Hamas operatives would steal the aid for themselves.
Direct aid to Gaza provided by the U.S. has been supplemented by over $121 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was noted to possibly contain Hamas sympathizers in its ranks.
At the end of January, Rep. Mast demanded answers to the allegations, saying, "American’s tax dollars must not be used to undermine our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel. I will continue to demand answers from UNRWA to make sure not a single cent of your money makes its way to Hamas!"
Mast's "hunting terrorists" remark resembles a similar comment made by fellow Florida Republican and military veteran Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL), who advocated for the relentless hunting of terrorists in response to the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri earlier in January.
