US: Trump claims Harris 'caused' 7 October attack on Israel

Former US president Donald Trump has claimed his Democrat rival Kamala Harris caused the 7 October attack on Israel.

"She caused the Attack of October 7th," he said, referring to the Hamas-led assault into southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw around 250 captives taken, leading to the current Israeli war on Gaza.

"Iran was BROKE – Didn't have money for Hezbollah!" he added on his Truth Social platform, in reference to the relationship between the Lebanese group and Iran.

Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah started exchanging cross-border fire on 8 October and have continued in parallel with the ongoing war on Gaza.

Trump and Harris are competing to be the US's next president and will face off in a November election.

This is not the first time that Trump has used the Gaza war to lash out at political rivals. He has previously called current President Joe Biden "a bad Palestinian" and Jewish Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer "a member of Hamas".

The Republican candidate claimed that Harris "HATES ISRAEL – Wouldn't even show up to Congress for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's session!"

Harris was not present when the Israeli premier addressed the United States Congress in July. She was travelling in the US state of Indiana during the speech.

But she said on Thursday at the Democratic National Convention that she "will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself" and "will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself".

The Biden administration has come under fire from pro-Palestine activists over its support for Israel during its war on Gaza, which has completely devastated the territory and killed more than 40,000 people.

South Africa has dragged Israel before the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide in Gaza.

In a discussion with X owner Elon Musk earlier this month, Trump said Iran "had no money for Hamas, they had no money for Hezbollah, they had no money for any of these instruments of terror" when he was president.

But American broadcaster CNN said this was "false", adding that while funding from Tehran fell in the latter half of Trump's time in office, the flow of money never halted completely.

Agencies contributed to this report.