Biden blames ‘the other team’ after Gaza hospital explosion raises tensions in Israel: Live updates
TEL AVIV — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that it does not appear that Israel is responsible for the attack Hospital explosion in Gaza City Which claimed the lives of hundreds of people and sparked anger in the Middle East.
He embraced Biden, who arrived in Israel to show strong support for America’s ally in its war with Hamas Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He also began his visit.
“Based on what I saw, it looks as if the matter was done by the other team, not you,” Biden said during a meeting in Tel Aviv that included Netanyahu.
Hamas blamed an Israeli air strike for a hospital explosion in Gaza City, while the Israeli army blamed a missile that other Palestinian militants misfired.
The hospital was crowded with wounded and other civilians seeking shelter from the incessant bombing. At least 500 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
Anger spread across the region over the hospital massacre, and Jordan’s foreign minister said his country had canceled a regional summit scheduled for Wednesday in Amman, where Biden was scheduled to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah. Sisi. Sisi.
These incidents come before an imminent Israeli ground attack, which government officials and relief organizations have warned will lead to an escalation of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region.
No water, fuel or food have been delivered to Gaza since the brutal October 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and sparked the war. Mediators are struggling to break the deadlock over providing supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals. As the humanitarian crisis grows, fears grow of an escalation of the conflict extending beyond Gaza’s borders.
Developments:
∎ Biden visited Israel on Wednesday, where the president will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv to show solidarity and ease tensions.
∎ Representatives of intelligence agencies expressed concerns about potential repercussions in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. At Tuesday’s “Five Eyes” intelligence summit, FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency is working with local law enforcement to address domestic threats of violence in Jewish and Muslim communities.
∎ More than 3,000 people were killed and more than 12,500 injured in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health. In Israel, at least 1,400 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured.
Bulletin on the war between Israel and Hamas: Sign up to get the latest news and analysis from USA TODAY in your inbox.
Netanyahu: Israel will limit civilian casualties in the war with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured President Joe Biden on Wednesday that Israel will try to limit casualties in its war with Hamas.
“As we go through this war, Israel will do everything in its power to keep civilians out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with Biden and Israel’s war cabinet.
Biden met with Israel’s war cabinet shortly after arriving in Tel Aviv on a hastily arranged trip aimed at showing solidarity with the United States’ oldest ally in the Middle East.
In their meeting, Netanyahu warned that the war would be “a different kind of war” because Hamas is “a different kind of enemy.”
He added: “The road to victory will be long and difficult.”
– Michael Collins
Blinken expresses his condolences after the hospital explosion, and pledges to provide humanitarian assistance to Abbas
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday evening “to express his deep condolences for the lives of civilians lost in the explosion at the Anglican Community Hospital in Gaza City,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. statement.
“The Secretary emphasized that the United States unequivocally condemns all forms of terrorism and stressed the United States’ firm commitment to upholding the law of war, including the important protections of civilians,” Miller said.
The statement added, “The Minister and the President discussed ongoing American efforts to coordinate the provision of urgent, life-saving humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, in cooperation with partners, and efforts made to prevent the spread of the conflict.”
Declaring a day of mourning after the bloody explosion that occurred in a hospital in Gaza City
The Diocese of Jerusalem, which owns and operates Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City where hundreds of people were killed in an explosion, condemned the attack and called for a day of mourning on Wednesday.
The deadly explosion that occurred on Tuesday angered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II, who canceled the Arab summit with Biden. The 22 Arab countries in the United Nations also declared days of national mourning or denounced the attack and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The devastating explosion and fire at the hospital came amid a global day of fasting and prayer for peace in the Holy Land, called for by church leaders, including Pope Francis, and Christian denominations. The 80-bed hospital became a shelter for hundreds of people, and was crowded with victims of Israeli air strikes and their families.
The diocese said in a statement, “The devastation we witnessed, coupled with the sacrilegious targeting of the church, strikes at the core of human dignity. We affirm unequivocally that this deserves international condemnation and punishment.” “The urgent appeal resonates for the international community to do its duty to protect civilians and ensure that such horrific, inhumane acts are not repeated.”
What is Hamas?
It was Hamas – an abbreviation for the Islamic Resistance Movement – or the Islamic Resistance Movement. Founded in 1987 by activists He was associated with the Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian intifada against the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. The State Department designated Hamas Terrorist group in 1997Many other countries consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
In 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections, and in 2007 the group violently seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, which was controlled by the rival Fatah movement that still rules the West Bank. No elections have been held since then. The group calls for the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state to replace the current State of Israel and believes in the use of violence to carry out Israel’s destruction.
Hamas receives financial, material, and logistical support from Iran. But so far, the United States and other countries have said there is no evidence that Iran was directly involved in the Hamas attack.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel war live updates: Biden blames ‘the other team’ for hospital explosion
