NEW YORK, October 18. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden’s weakness and his Middle East policy empowered Iran and the radical Palestinian group Hamas, ex-US president Donald Trump wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek.

"Iran knew that Biden was soft, foolish, and able to be pushed around the very moment he assumed office," he pointed out. "Every step of the way, Joe Biden has empowered and emboldened America's enemies the world over," including Hamas and Iran, Trump added.

According to him, Iran earned at least $80 bln a year from oil exports under Biden. Trump went on to say that Tehran was using the money "to help fund its terror network around the world."

Trump noted that if re-elected US president, he would "once again stand with Israel 100%" "The United States will fully support Israel in defeating, dismantling, and permanently destroying" Hamas, the former US president said, adding that Washington would also cut off money for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which, in his words, "has been helping fuel this conflict for decades."

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. More than 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 13,700 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and over 4,200 people have been wounded.