(PM.) An Israeli commander said that US small arms that were left behind during President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 have found their way into the hands of Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip. Weapons the US abandoned during the tumultuous and deadly withdrawal were seized by the Taliban
Following the August 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw 13 servicemembers in killed, billions of dollars in US weapons and equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters, fell into the hands of the Taliban. An Israeli commander told Newsweek that IDF has seen the weapons in us by terrorist organizations in Gaza.
The weapons continue to be a revenue source for the Taliban, who have sold and smuggled the weapons out of Afghanistan.
The commander was also concerned that “…they can research capabilities and then learn how to manufacture them. I’m talking especially about Iran.”
“The other problem,” he added, “is that we are very worried that some of these capabilities are going to fall to Hezbollah and Hamas’ hands.”
It has been widely reported that Tehran has been reverse engineering US weapons technology including drones.
According to Newsweek, the Biden administration has alleged that Tehran has copied the US design for TOW anti-tank missiles “…to develop the Toophan system, which has been wielded by Hezbollah and fellow ‘Axis of Resistance’ militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.”
Speaking with Fox News on Sunday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “I want to track the serial numbers of the weapons that Hamas is using against Israel. And I want to know if they came from Afghanistan or if they came from weapons that we provided to Ukraine.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Iranian officials helped the Palestinian terror group Hamas plan the attack and gave the go-ahead to carry out Saturday’s sneak attack on Israel. It was the most severe attack on the Jewish state since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Dozens remain missing and are feared kidnapped after the incursion by terrorists into the Jewish state.
On September 11, President Joe Biden released $6 billion in frozen funds to Iran. The move, which was highly criticized, was to secure a prisoner swap deal in which five Iranians imprisoned in the US were handed over to the Islamic Republic in exchange for five American citizens who had been jailed.
Blinken stated, “Iran has unfortunately always used and focused its funds on supporting terrorism, on supporting groups like Hamas. And it’s done that when there have been sanctions, it’s done that when there haven’t been sanctions, and it’s always prioritized that.”
In 2021 Biden “restored” $235 million in aid to the Palestinians despite concerns that the money would fund terrorism. At the time Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “I am deeply troubled by recent decisions from the Biden Administration to turn a blind eye to behavior by the Palestinian Authority.”
He added, “In 2019, the Palestinian Authority provided $343 million to subsidize ‘Pay to Slay’ attacks where terrorists and their families receive cash rewards for attacking Israelis and Americans.” Graham alleged the Biden administration was “subsidizing terrorism.”
