Rep. Jeff Van Drew told Newsmax on Friday that he doesn't know whether to trust that Hamas will hold up its end of the agreement to release 50 hostages over the next few days.
"I pray to God that we get all of them," the New Jersey Republican said on Newsmax's "Newsline," while acknowledging that several Americans are among those being held by Hamas. "I personally think and I hope I'm wrong — nobody knows for sure — but I think Hamas is going to play games on this."
A four-day cease-fire in the hostilities between Israel and Hamas fighters in Gaza went into effect early Friday, after which Hamas released 24 hostages seized during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Those released included 13 Israelis, along with 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines, according to Qatar. They had been held in the Gaza Strip for almost seven weeks.
Under the exchange, Israel is to free 150 Palestinian prisoners. It has said it's willing to extend the four-day cease-fire an extra day for each additional 10 hostages released.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is in Nantucket for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and is set to speak about the hostage release Friday afternoon.
But Van Drew said it was Biden's "weakness" that led to the war.
"If we hadn't had weak policies with Iran … all of this wouldn't happen," he said. "We released money to Iran, which was refrozen. When we took the sanctions off of Iran that enabled them to money to enrich uranium. We did the wrong thing. Weakness creates war creates disaster."
But for the war to end, "Hamas has to be wiped off the face of the Earth," Van Drew added.
"They killed men, women, and children," he said. "They raped women. They beat them. They paraded them. They murdered them. What they have done is truly the face of evil."
Van Drew said he's glad some hostages have been released, but added that Americans must be able to come home.
"I'm so glad [Biden] interrupted his vacation for a little bit, but we've got serious issues here and this needs 24/7 attention," said Van Drew. "I'm sure some of his staff is giving that, but we need executive leadership."
The congressman added that the United States must stay strong in its support of Israel, and that includes Biden.
"He says the right words but then he turns around and kind of hints at wanting a cease-fire," said Van Drew. "What really should happen here, and it's not going to because of the policies we have, Hamas should lay down their arms. Hamas should recognize Israel. Hezbollah, other groups, and Iran should no longer engage in this kind of warfare."
Van Drew added that Hamas is a "bit anxious" to take care of the prison releases "because they're getting whipped."
"The Israeli army is the best and they are going in there and they're doing the job," said Van Drew. "[Biden] found out the war in Ukraine started because he didn't nip it in the bud at the very beginning."
He added he would tell Biden that "you found out what happened here in Israel, and you found out in Afghanistan when you left prematurely in a really stupid way. What happened? It's all due to weakness. If you are strong, no country will attack you."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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