Biden explained why Hamas attacked Israel

US President Joe Biden said that Hamas militants had several reasons to attack Israel, but the main reason for the brutal attack was Hamas' desire to prevent Israel from normalising relations with Saudi Arabia, which is a major financial donor to the Gaza Strip. This is reported by Bloomberg.

The American leader pointed out that in the near future negotiations on the normalisation of relations between the two countries with the participation of the United States were to be held.

According to him, Saudi Arabia wanted to recognise Israel and this would actually unite the Middle East.

One of the reasons why they acted the way they did, why Hamas attacked Israel, is because they knew I was going to come to the negotiating table with Saudi Arabia," Biden said Friday, 20 October, at a campaign fundraising event in Washington.

As analysts point out, Israel has signed diplomatic agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan since 2020, but normalising relations with Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the Middle East, would be a breakthrough for Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular.

The potential normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and other Arab states has been almost the top priority of current US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. It was for this purpose that he visited Riyadh (the capital of Saudi Arabia) in June 2023 - writes Reuters.

The normalisation treaty implies that Saudi Arabia will recognise Israel and begin diplomatic and trade relations with it. In return, Saudi Arabia wants to get Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians, and the United States to provide security guarantees and assistance in the nuclear programme, The Wall Street Journal wrote in August.

It is noted that the White House remains in contact with Saudi authorities and has not been informed that the initiative has been suspended.

The upcoming negotiations have frightened the Hamas leadership, which for many years fed at the expense of Saudi Arabia. After all, the country annually sent to the authorities of the Palestinian Authority - from 80 to 100 million dollars annually.

Note, as The Telegraph writes, a member of the Saudi royal family, Prince Turki al-Faisal, who is considered an influential diplomatic figure in the Arab world, criticised Hamas. He called on the Palestinians to express their interests through "acts of civil disobedience" rather than militarily.

Recall, militants of the Palestinian movement Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October. They took dozens of hostages and killed many people in border settlements. The Israeli army responded with a powerful strike on the Gaza Strip and took it under siege, forcing the militants out of its territory. Israeli forces are preparing for a full-scale ground operation.

On Friday, 21 October, Biden submitted a $106 billion emergency spending bill to Congress to strengthen the armies of Israel and Ukraine, which includes $61.4 billion in annual aid to Ukraine and $14.3 billion to arm Israel.