Republican says Biden has 'strengthened' Hamas by withholding aid from Israel: 'Completely incompetent'

A Republican senator hammered President Biden on Sunday for withholding weapons from Israel, which he claimed has inadvertently "strengthened" the Hamas terror group.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-NE, said the Biden administration’s decision to withhold high payload bombs from Israel "just demonstrates their incompetence." He also compared the current conflict with Hamas to how Biden handled Afghanistan, saying he was "absolutely mismanaging this."

"I mean, the administration said they had an ironclad friendship with Israel, and now they're demonstrating that it doesn't mean too much," said Ricketts, also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, during a segment of FOX Report with Jon Scott. "Secretary [Antony] Blinken was talking about how we've got to offer them a better way. A better way, like Afghanistan. How well did that work out? He's looking for a credible plan for protecting civilians, that they wouldn't know a credible plan if it came up and bit them on the behind. These people are completely incompetent and they're absolutely mismanaging this."

The Republican also said the president’s tactic was playing into the hands of terrorists: "Hamas was negotiating to come up with a cease fire to return the hostages. And then Biden announces he's going to withhold weapons. And Hamas is like, well, my hand has just been strengthened. Why would I negotiate now?"

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Ricketts’ comment came after Biden urged Israel's government not to carry out a ground invasion of Gaza's southern city of Rafah, which is currently home to more than a million Palestinians who fled other parts of the Gaza Strip during Israel’s war with Hamas.

On Israel's