Gaza war: Joe Biden lands in Israel and says hospital blast was ‘done by the other team’
US President Joe Biden began his visit to Israel and claimed the deadly explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital appears to have been carried out “by the other team” – not the Israeli military.
Biden arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday vowing to show the world the US stands in solidarity with the Jewish people amid the conflict with Hamas and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to Hamas militants.
But he added there are “a lot of people out there” who are not sure what caused the blast.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli air strike caused the destruction and hundreds of deaths in an explosion at the al Ahli hospital
The Israeli military denies involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group, who have also denied responsibility.
Biden was scheduled to visit Jordan after Israel, but meetings with Arab leaders were called off after the hospital explosion. He will speak to them by phone after returning to the US.
It comes as fears mount of a new front erupting along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah operates and has been skirmishing with Israeli forces.
Biden’s trip will test the limits of US influence in the Middle East at a volatile time and marks his second visit to a conflict zone this year, after he visited Ukraine in February.
He told Netanyahu he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the explosion, but he also said it is not hyperbole to say Hamas had “slaughtered” Israelis in the October 7 attack.
Netanyahu thanked Biden for going to Israel, telling him the visit is “deeply, deeply moving”.
“I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you, Mr President,” he said. “Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always.”
The two leaders met at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and embraced before speeding away for hours of meetings where the US president is expected to push for allowing aid into Gaza.
His visit coincides with rising humanitarian concerns over Israel cutting off food, fuel and water in Gaza and mediators struggling to find agreement to provide supplies to civilians.
Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack on October 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on board Air Force One that Biden “wants to get a sense from the Israelis on the situation on the ground”.
The US President also plans to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims killed and hostages taken when Hamas made its incursion into Israel.
Roughly 2,800 Palestinians – without counting those killed in the hospital blast – have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
Associated Press – Aamer Madhani and Colleen Long