California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate.
Issa — a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — spoke with Fox News Digital from a confidential location in the Middle East, where he was traveling when Israel came under sustained attack from Hamas-backed terrorists Saturday morning. Issa said he was within “a combined missile range, more from Iran” than the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
Issa said that “tensions are very high” in the Middle East “with a recognition that these are Iranian-supplied” attacks.
Hamas has launched thousands of missiles, and the death and injured counts continue to mount “just at a time when Saudi Arabia has brokered much better relations with Israel but seemingly trying to lower tensions with Iran,” he continued.
“And it has gotten where, sadly, the administration has been attempting to appease Iran,” the California Republican said.
Issa — who is leading a resolution in the House disapproving of the Biden administration's waiver of sanctions on Iran — said the $6 billion in unfrozen funds “certainly backfilled” Iran's “expenditures, whether the money flowed through this quickly or not.”
Facing criticisms for the $6 billion in unfrozen assets in light of the attacks on Israel, the White House has said that none of the funds go directly to the Iranian government, and the money is limited to humanitarian uses only.
But the scale of Hamas' attack Saturday morning, plus the second round of missiles fired in the evening, indicates to Issa that the terror group has been building and smuggling in “tens of thousands of rockets” for a long time.
Issa said he believes that the understanding that other Middle Eastern nations have come to about Israel's permanence is “irreversible,” but he added that the war “will make things difficult for a period of time.”
“I don't think there's any question at all that the Saudi crown prince will, in time, reach an agreement with Israel in the foreseeable future,” Issa said. At the same time, Issa noted that “Saudi Arabia is using its leverage to assist the Palestinians.”
“It is now going to be much harder to do something as comprehensive as they would have wanted,” Issa added.