Why Hamas attacked Israel? Joe Biden’s ‘can’t prove’ Saudi Arabia theory

US president Joe Biden said that Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 in part because of a possible Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization deal.

“I cannot prove what I’m about to say. But I believe one of the reasons why Hamas struck when they did was they knew that 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,” Joe Biden said.

Earlier, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was optimistic about relations with Saudi Arabia. “I think we’re getting closer to peace every day that passes,” he said in September, adding, “The reason we didn’t have for a quarter-century any new peace treaties after we made peace with Egypt and Jordan, we didn’t have for 25 years a single new peace treaty because everybody said, first you have to satisfy whatever the demands of the Palestinians are. You’ve got to conclude a peace treaty with the Palestinians. Well, there was only one problem with that. The Palestinians don’t want a peace with Israel.”

Earlier, on the release of a first group of hostages taken by Hamas, Joe Biden said that it was just a “start” and that there were “real” chances to extend a temporary truce in Gaza. Joe Biden also said that it was time to “renew” work on creating a two-state solution.

“This morning I’ve been engaged with my team as we began the first couple days of implementing this deal. It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well,” he said. When asked about the American women and children hostages who could be released as part of the deal, Joe Biden said he did not know when they would be set free but “we expect it to occur.”