Amid the war between Israel and Gaza, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley launched a scathing attack on Islamic countries for not taking the Palestinian citizens and not "opening their gates" for civilians from Gaza who are looking to flee their homes in the face of an imminent ground invasion from Israel.
"We should care about the Palestinian citizens, especially the innocent ones, because they didn't ask for this. But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where is Egypt? Do you know we give Egypt over a billion dollars a year? Why aren't they opening the gates? Why aren't they taking the Palestinians?" Haley told CNN on Sunday.
"You know why? Because they know they can't vet them, and they don't want Hamas in their neighbourhood. So why would Israel want them in their neighbourhood? So let's be honest with what's going on. The Arab countries aren't doing anything to help the Palestinians because they don't trust who is right, who is good, who is evil, and they don't want it in their country," she said.
Islamic Countries Would Blame America, Says Haley
Haley anticipated that these Islamic countries would blame America. She said that the Islamic countries have the ability to tell Hamas to let the people out. "They're going to come and blame America. They're going to come and blame Israel. And don't fall for it, because they have the ability to fix all of this if they wanted to. They have the ability to go in and tell Hamas right now to stop what they're doing. They have the ability to tell Hamas to let those people out," Haley told CNN.
"But you know what? Qatar is going to continue to work with Hamas and their leadership. Iran is going to continue to fund all of this and not say anything. And who's silent? Every one of those Arab countries is going to be silent. But expect for the finger to point to Israel, and the finger is going to point to America," she said. Haley said Hamas is going to do everything they can to not have them leave, because "they want them all to die".
"One, they want to use them as human shields, but, two, they want to blame Israel and show images of dead children and say, look at what Israel did," she alleged.
"But don't ever forget what Hamas did. Don't ever forget those girls running for their life. Don't ever forget those babies that were killed in cribs. Don't ever forget the people that they were dragging through the streets. And what were they saying, Jake? They were saying, 'Death to Israel, death to America'," she said, as per CNN.
"That's who we're dealing with. But I dealt with this at the United Nations. You're going to hear all of those Arab countries vilify Israel for what's about to happen. You're going to hear all of them say, how dare you not do more for the Palestinian people?" said Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN. She said right now, they cannot take their eyes off of the terrorists.
Haley Slams Former US President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden Over Iranian Nuclear Deal
The former Governor of South Carolina also slammed the former US president Barack Obama, as well as incumbent President Joe Biden over the Iranian nuclear deal. What Hamas did was beyond thuggish, brutal, and sick. What the Iranian regime is doing to help them is terrible. But let's look back at, what did Biden do. Biden turned around and fell all over himself to get into the Iran deal. Obama did it before that, she said.
"You gave all of this money. And what did you do? You empowered Iran to go and strengthen Hamas, strengthen Hezbollah, strengthen the Houthis to spread their terrorist activity. We went and strengthened those sanctions and decimated Iran's economy. And what happened? Biden has loosened the sanctions," she said.
Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel last week. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) retaliated with multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, thousands of people have lost their lives in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides.