Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) is confident that Israel will dispatch Hamas in a biblical fashion after the terrorist group attacked the nation over the weekend.
“In Israel, the last thing they want is America sticking their nose in the middle of this thing,” the congressman told reporters on Wednesday, per the Washington Examiner. “They’re going to handle it and there’s going to be Old Testament justice pretty quick.”
His comments came as he was headed into a House Republican conference meeting to select the party’s nominee for speaker following the ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last week.
Mr. Burchett, who voted to remove Mr. McCarthy, added that he did not believe the absence of a speaker would hinder the U.S.’s ability to assist Israel in the conflict.
US Response
The unprovoked attack, which began early Saturday morning and continued for several hours, claimed more than 1,200 lives—mostly civilians—including those of at least 22 Americans. An additional 2,700 individuals were injured, while still others remain kidnapped or unaccounted for.Israel, in response, declared war—a move President Joe Biden has pledged to support by providing ammunition, aircraft, and interceptor missiles for the nation’s Iron Dome defense system.
The Defense Department has also sent the USS Gerald R. Ford—the Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier—to the Eastern Mediterranean alongside cruisers and destroyers in a show of support for America’s closest Middle Eastern ally.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said his focus was on helping to “contain” the conflict to prevent it from spreading throughout the region.
“And also, we do everything we can to support Israel in its efforts,” he added. “And that’s providing security assistance, whatever intelligence, logistics that we can find to help them out.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has been trying to make it easier for Americans in Israel to evacuate, but several major airlines have halted flights to and from the area due to the ongoing conflict.
“The airport is still open. There are flights that are getting out of the airport in Tel Aviv, and so we encourage people to try to avail themselves of those options,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a Tuesday press briefing.
“We have also been in conversation with various carriers to encourage them to consider resuming travel in and out of Israel and will continue to do that,” he added.
One such party that many suspect to have funded the attacks is Iran, though the White House stressed Wednesday that it had not uncovered any evidence of that.
“We haven’t seen anything that tells they have specifically cut checks to support this set of attacks, or that they were involved in the training,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “And obviously, this required quite a bit of training by these terrorists.”
He added that officials would continue to review the intelligence to see “if that leads us to a different conclusion.”
Still, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that if such a link is found, it could mean more sanctions against Iran.
When asked what would happen to the $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil assets the United States released to the country last month, Ms. Yellen replied, “I wouldn’t take anything off the table in terms of future possible actions, but I certainly don’t want to get ahead of where we are on that.”
