An independent monitoring organization recently made a significant discovery following the unexpected attack by the terrorist group Hamas on Israel.

According to NGO Monitor, the State Department under President Joe Biden provided over $90,000 in funding through two grants to the Phoenix Center for Research and Field Studies, an institution established in 2021 under Gaza University. These grants were valued at $30,088 for a project running from August 2023 to July 2024 and $60,000 for a project from September 2023 to August 2024, as noted by The Daily Caller.

NGO Monitor’s research revealed that the Phoenix Center’s website indicated the participation of senior officials from Palestinian-aligned terrorist groups in multiple conferences and panels hosted by the institution. These officials openly supported “armed resistance” against Israel.

The Daily Caller notes further:

The recipient of the grant is listed as the “Finiq Center for Field Studies and Researches.” NGO Monitor attributes the different spelling to a phonetic error, since its address matches the Phoenix Center’s address.

At a Dec. 13, 2022 discussion hosted by the center on “the approaches of open conflict with the occupation authorities in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” participants concluded “the priorities of future agendas must include the need to reintegrate armed resistance and popular resistance,” according to document produced by the Phoenix Center and translated from Arabic by NGO Monitor.

The center identifies itself as “an independent, non-profit Palestinian institution established within the framework of its responsibility towards Palestinian communities to meet their political, economic and social needs,” its website states.

An event held on September 19, 2022, at the center included Khader Habib, a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In July 2022, another discussion featured senior PIJ members Ahmed Al-Mudallal and Khaled Al-Batsh, along with senior Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine representative Mohammed Al-Ghoul, as reported by NGO Monitor.

The Director of Programs at the Phoenix Center, Salah Abdalati, has made public statements expressing support for “armed resistance” by terrorist organizations.

“Symbolic and popular resistance, in all its forms, whether its … going on strike, mutiny, marches, confronting occupation forces…or escalating armed resistance, or other forms and methods of ingenuitive combat, must strengthen in various Palestinian communities so that resistance becomes a way of life,” he noted in a Feb. 24, 2023, Facebook post that the NGO Monitor translated.

On August 7, 2022, in a social media post, Abdalati characterized Israel as “the state that, in the eyes of many, has taken on a role similar to that of ISIS in this generation,” as reported by the monitoring organization.

“There is no choice but steadfastness and resistance against the occupation, and it is a right and a duty of a nation under occupation,” he wrote.

Over the past weekend, Hamas launched a barrage of rockets into Israel and infiltrated a kibbutz on the Gaza border, resulting in over 1,000 casualties, with the majority being innocent civilians, including men, women, and children. Shocking reports of numerous infants being victimized and beheaded prompted worldwide outrage, particularly within the United States.

Following the attack, the Biden administration received significant criticism, leading a State Department agency to delete a post on the X platform.

The deleted tweet from the U.S. Office Of Palestinian Affairs read: “We strongly denounce the aggression by Hamas terrorists and the tragic loss of life. We call upon all parties to abstain from violence and retaliatory actions. Terrorism and violence yield no solutions.”