Biden blames Palestinian group for Gaza hospital attack. Following an Israeli airstrike that killed hundreds of Palestinians and drew outrage from world leaders, US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
During a visit to show his support for Israel, Biden backed up the claim made by the ally that Hamas had brought “only suffering” when it launched a deadly hospital attack in Gaza.
“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And based on what I´ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden said as he opened a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.
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“But there´s a lot of people out there not sure so we have to overcome a lot of things,” Biden said.
“We have to bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering,” Biden said.
He said he was encouraging Netanyahu to ensure “life-saving capacity to help the Palestinians who are innocent and caught in the middle of this”.
Biden’s visit was announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also said that Israel has agreed to collaborate with the United States on a plan to get supplies into Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade for 16 years and has been under siege for 12 days.
In response to the devastating Hamas attack on October 7, Israel is contemplating a ground invasion.
Biden declared that he was “proud” to travel to Israel.
“I want to say to the people of Israel — their courage, their commitment and their bravery is stunning,” Biden said.
Biden, who until recently had openly questioned several actions of Israel’s hard-right government, was warmly summoned by Netanyahu, who had come under fire at home following the bloodiest attack in Israel’s history.
Netanyahu hailed Biden — who has faced accusations from the rival Republican Party that he is insufficiently pro-Israel — for paying “the first visit of an American president in Israel in a time of war”.
“There´s only one thing better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel and that is having you standing in Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu, opening the talks with Biden, called for global unity against Hamas.
“Just as the civilized world united to defeat the Nazis and united to defeat ISIS [Daesh], the civilized world must unite and defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“I can assure you, Mr President, Israel is united to defeat Hamas and we will defeat Hamas and remove this terrible threat.”
The horror of the hospital killings threatened to derail his high-stakes visit, with Jordan postponing a summit with Biden, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas claimed that an Israeli air strike damaged the Gaza clinic, while Israel claimed that an Islamic Jihad rocket misfired and hit the Ahli Arab Hospital.
According to Gaza health officials, between 200 and 300 people died, while Hamas claimed the death toll at more over 500. The Israeli and Palestinian accounts could not be independently verified.
After the hospital tragedy, outrage in the Middle East over the 12-day-old Gaza conflict, which has killed hundreds, reached new heights, and protests against Israel were called in cities across much of the Arab and Muslim world.
Biden has publicly backed main partner Israel and its military assault in retribution for the deaths of 1,400 people in shock cross-border strikes begun by Hamas on October 7.
Before the hospital was destroyed, Israel’s attempt to eliminate Hamas and rescue 199 hostages from the besieged and blockaded region had already killed at least 3,000 people within Gaza.
Entire Gaza neighbourhoods have been destroyed, and survivors are left with limited supplies of food, water, and gasoline, unable to evacuate the 40-kilometer (25-mile) long strip that Israel and Egypt have blockaded since 2007.
“The situation in Gaza is spiralling out of control,” UN World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We need violence on all sides to stop.”
#WATCH | Israel | In Tel Aviv, US President Joe Biden says, “…I was deeply sad by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I have seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there are a lot of people out there, not sure…”… pic.twitter.com/ixrqpC5cm3
— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2023
