US senator to Hamas leader: 'We're gonna kill you'

WASHINGTON

US Sen. Lindsey Graham vowed to kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar if former President Donald Trump is elected in November.

Graham, speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to support Israel and its dealing with Iran and proxy groups in the Middle East.

When Trump gets into office, Graham said the hostages will come home "because he (Trump) will tell the Ayatollah, ‘I’m holding you accountable for the safety and the well-being of these people, and if they don’t come home, you’re going to pay a price.’”

Graham said President Joe Biden is a "weak person" in Iran's eyes. "Only person weaker than him is (US Vice President) Kamala Harris. God bless our friends in Israel. God help our friends in Israel. Donald Trump is on the way."

His remarks came after the US Justice Department filed criminal charges Tuesday against senior Hamas leaders for their roles in the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.

The indictment targets five high-ranking Hamas officials, including Sinwar, who is reportedly hiding in tunnels in the Gaza Strip, and Ismail Haniyeh, the late head of Hamas’s political bureau who was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran on July 31. The charges range from terrorism to conspiracy to use of weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy to murder American nationals outside the US.

Other defendants are Mohammad Al-Masri, Marwan Issa, Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka.

Graham said Hamas would not be deterred by legal action, adding: "We’ve lost deterrence. Nobody is afraid of Joe Biden or Kamala Harris."

“What is Biden doing? Charging Sinwar with crimes in an American court. We’re not fighting a crime here. We’re fighting a war. Sinwar could care less about being indicted by (Attorney General Merrick) Garland. Sinwar, your days are numbered, pal. We’re not going to indict you. We’re going to kill you," he added.

Garland unveiled the indictment after the recovery of the bodies of six Israeli hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, in Gaza last weekend. Around 250 hostages were taken to Gaza following the cross-border attack by Hamas last October.

More than 40,800 Palestinians have since been killed during Israel's war in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

A total of 1,139 people were killed in the attack led by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, according to Israeli figures.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has caused severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.