Biden asserts his diplomacy may have prompted Oct. 7 attack

On Friday, President Joe Biden suggested that the terrible attacks on Israel of Oct. 7 that ended in the rape, kidnapping, and murder of Israeli people could have been instigated by his own diplomatic efforts.

On Friday, Hamas freed 13 Israeli civilians and 12 Thai nationals, the first of a projected total of roughly 50 captives to be released in exchange for a ceasefire with Israel, as the Daily Caller reported.

U.S., Israeli, Qatari, and Egyptian officials negotiated the release, and Biden gave a brief address on Friday praising the accord. After he finished speaking, the president was asked for his impressions of the situation.

The Confession

“I cannot prove what I’m about to say, but I believe one of the reasons Hamas struck when they did is because they knew I was working very closely with the Saudis and others in the region to bring peace to the region by having recognition of Israel and Israel’s right to exist,” the president said.

Deals to establish official diplomatic relations were reached between Israel and numerous Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa under the administration of former president Donald Trump. Among these nations were Morocco, the UAE, Sudan, and Bahrain.

Throughout his presidency, Biden has been pushing to widen the accord to achieve formal recognition between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which has long been a champion of the Palestinian cause.

To add to the complexity of the issue, last month, Trump was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that he thinks Hamas struck Israel to prevent Biden from making a deal with Saudi Arabia, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also claimed that similar factors may have motivated Hamas' strike.

More of Biden's Comments

“You may recall when we did the G20 a little while ago, I was able to get a resolution, a statement passed through there saying we are going to build a railroad from Riyadh all the way through the Middle East into Saudi Arabia, Israel etcetera all the way up to Europe," the president continued Friday.

"Not the railroad, it’d be an underground pipeline then railroad.

“The whole idea is there is overwhelming interest and I think most Arab nations know it and coordinating with one another to change the dynamic in their region for longer term peace and that is what I am going to continue to work on,” Biden said.

Israel's reaction to the Hamas offensive, which has killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, has damaged Israeli relations with several countries with a predominantly Muslim population.

As the Israeli government continues its efforts to eradicate Hamas, the status of a prospective agreement for Riyadh to formally recognize Israel is unclear.