U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and said that the Gaza hospital blast of Tuesday evening, which killed hundreds of people sheltering inside, appeared to have been caused “by the other team.”
Biden’s diplomatic trip to Israel is part of an effort to show “solidarity” with Israel, following a devastating and coordinated Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The U.S. president’s later trip to visit Jordan, where he planned to meet with Arab leaders and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, was canceled, after protests swelled across the region in response to a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital.
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, as well as Arab leaders blame the attack on Israel’s Defense Forces which have been relentlessly bombing Gaza daily since the Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed some 1,300 people. Israel blames Hamas and its affiliate group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, saying the hospital blast was caused by a failed rocket launch.
Israel’s bombings of Gaza and total siege over the small enclave have killed more than 3,000 Palestinians so far, the territory’s health ministry says. Horrific scenes of the wounded ignited street protests in capitals across the region.
Source: CNBC
