Biden's comments linking IMEEC and Hamas attack 'misunderstood': White House

The White House has responded to US President Joe Biden's statement linking the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) to the Hamas attack on Israel and said that his quote was "misunderstood".

Responding to a question regarding Biden’s theory of the reason behind the Hamas' attack on Israel, White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden had been misunderstood.

“I think you misunderstood him. What he said was that he believed that the normalization process and the agreement that we were trying to reach between Israel and Saudi Arabia for normalization, which we believe is an important stepping stone to getting to a two-state solution, was what may have motivated Hamas to — to conduct those attacks. I think you misunderstood what he actually said,” Kirby said.

President Biden had said he is convinced that one of the reasons why Palestinian militant outfit Hamas launched a surprise terror attack on Israel on October 7 was because of the announcement during the G-20 Summit in New Delhi on the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) that integrates the entire region with a network of railroad

Biden told reporters at a joint presser with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that his analysis was based on his instinct.

"I'm convinced one of the reasons Hamas attacked when they did, and I have no proof of this, just my instinct tells me, is because of the progress we were making towards regional integration for Israel, and regional integration overall. We can't leave that work behind," the POTUS was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

This was the second time in less than a week that Biden mentioned the IMEEC as a potential reason for the deadly surprise attack by Hamas. The IMEEC is being seen as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The corridor comprises an eastern corridor that connects India to the Gulf region and also comprises a northern corridor that connects the Gulf region to Europe. The IMEEC will connect India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Europe.

Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive against Hamas after unprecedented attacks by the militant group on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people.

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