Republican candidates throw their full weight behind Israel and call for Hamas to be ‘finished’: Haley shows off her foreign policy credentials by revealing she spoke to Netanyahu

Republicans roundly supported Israel in its bloody Gaza counter-offensive aimed at wiping out Hamas, with Nikki Haley blaming Iran for the region’s current instability.

“To be clear, there would be no Hamas without Iran. There would be no Hezbollah without Iran.

There would be no Houthis leaving Iran. There would be no Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq trying to interrogate our military men and women if it weren’t for Iran funding Iran right now,” the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor said at a news conference . the GOP’s third presidential debate.

Haley, a defense hawk who has long touted her foreign policy stance, revealed that she had spoken with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu since the Oct. 7 attack.

“The first thing I said to Netanyahu when it happened was I said, kill them – kill them.”

Amid growing concern over the apparent massive Palestinian casualties, Governor Ron DeSantis blamed the media, claiming Israel was simply defending itself.

She pointed to an “unholy alliance” between Iran, China and Russia and called on the US to launch its own counterattacks.

Asked whether she supports the use of military force against Iran in response to the recent attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq by Iranian proxy groups, she said: “The idea that our men and women could be targeted, and that we have almost a hundred hits under Biden’s watch is unthinkable.’

Iranian-backed groups have attacked US and coalition forces about 40 times since mid-October.

She said the US “needs to take out the infrastructure they use to carry out these attacks so they can never do it again.”

Vivek Ramaswamy deemed Haley “Dick Cheney in three-inch heels” after she appeared to support military action in the Middle East.

Ramaswamy has indicated that he would not support sending more US resources to Israel, but supported the nation’s “right to defend itself.”

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie questioned why Israeli intelligence failed to anticipate the October 7 Hamas attack that left 1,400 dead and more than 200 people taken hostage.

Israel’s Mossad has a reputation as one of the most effective spy agencies in the world.

Ramaswamy has indicated that he would not support sending more US resources to Israel, but supported the nation’s “right to defend itself.”

‘I thisnk let’s go in and make sure of that Hamas can never do this again. The fact is that Israel and its intelligence community have failed. They have failed here and they have failed the people of the State of Israel.”

Amid growing concerns about the apparent massive Palestinian casualties, Governor Ron DeSantis blamed the media, claiming Israel was simply defending itself.

“I would tell Bibi to finish the job once and for all with these butchers,” DeSantis said. “Hamas must release every hostage and surrender unconditionally.”

“I’m tired of listening to the media – I’m tired of hearing other people blame Israel just because it’s defending itself. We will support Israel verbally and also in public and private,” he continued.

More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict with Israel, according to Gaza’s health ministry. These figures have not been independently verified.

According to the United Nations, about 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents have been displaced. Neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan have refused to accept any more Palestinians.

Israeli forces are now advancing ‘deep inside’ Gaza City, where they are fighting intense and bloody battles against Hamas terrorists. Israel blames the civilian casualties on Hamas hiding among civilian hotspots.

The Israeli military said Hamas militants fired anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces from nearby hospitals and that soldiers had found weapons hidden in a school in northern Gaza.

The military wing of Hamas, which has ruled the small, densely populated area for 16 years, said its fighters inflicted heavy losses and damage on advancing Israeli forces. It was not possible to verify the battlefield claims of either side.

Israel says 30 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began, and Palestinian militants have continued to fire rockets into Israel daily.

The death toll on both sides is unprecedented in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence and continues to raise fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.