US Vice President Joe Biden has endorsed Israel’s account of the devastating airstrike on a Hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians as he began a crucial trip to Tel Aviv to show support for the US’s ally in the face of the ongoing war with Hamas.
Arab nations have accused Israel of being to fault for the brutal Hamas attack on October 7; nevertheless, Biden supported Israel’s claim that a misfired rocket from a Palestinian group struck the Ahli Arab Hospital.
Netanyahu greeted Biden on the tarmac when he arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday for a solidarity visit to Israel.
“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.
#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
“But there’s a lot of people out there not sure so we have to overcome a lot of things,” Biden stated.
“We have to bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering,” Trump stated.
According to him, he was urging Netanyahu to make sure that “life-saving capacity to help the Palestinians who are innocent and caught in the middle of this” was in place.
Israel had 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, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who announced Biden’s arrival.
Following the devastating attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel is contemplating a ground invasion.
It made Biden “proud” to go to Israel, he said.
“I want to say to the people of Israel — their courage, their commitment and their bravery is stunning,” Biden stated.
Biden, who had until recently openly criticized several actions taken by Israel’s hard-right government, was warmly invited by Netanyahu, who had come under fire at home following the bloodiest attack in Israel’s history.
Netanyahu praised Biden for making “the first visit of an American president in Israel in a time of war” despite the Republican Party’s criticism that he is not sufficiently pro-Israel.
“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 stated.
In his opening remarks to Biden, Netanyahu urged world cooperation in the fight against Hamas.
“Just as the civilised world united to defeat the Nazis and united to defeat ISIS [Daesh], the civilised world must unite and defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu stated.
“I can assure you, Mr President, Israel is united to defeat Hamas and we will defeat Hamas and remove this terrible threat.”
The shocking hospital deaths put his important trip in jeopardy, and Jordan cancelled a conference that King Abdullah II was scheduled to hold for Vice President Joe Biden, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
BBC and MSNBC correspondents on the ground refuting Israeli claims that a “faulty rocket” landed on the Hospital in Gaza
BBC:pic.twitter.com/Mcls6KFxZU
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) October 18, 2023
The death toll was estimated by the Gaza health officials to be between 200 and 300, while Hamas put it at over 500. Independent confirmation of neither the Israeli nor the Palestinian accounts was possible.
After the bloodbath in the hospitals, indignation in the Middle East over the 12-day-old Gaza War, which has claimed hundreds of lives, reached new heights, and demonstrations against Israel were called in several cities around the Arab and Muslim world.
Biden has firmly endorsed Israel, America’s closest partner, and its military campaign in reprisal for the 1,400 people who were killed in shocking cross-border strikes carried out by Hamas on October 7.
Before the hospital was demolished, at least 3,000 people had already died inside Gaza as a result of Israel’s campaign to eliminate Hamas and attempt to free 199 hostages from the besieged and blockaded region.
Whole neighborhoods in Gaza have been destroyed, and survivors are stuck in the 40-kilometer (25-mile) long strip that Israel and Egypt have been blockading since 2007. They have run out of food, water, and gasoline.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the UN World Health Organization, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “the situation in Gaza is spiraling out of control.” “We need violence on all sides to stop.”
Hospital carnage
The explosion at the Christian-run hospital on Tuesday night caused more turmoil and agony on the ground in Gaza as the injured were taken to adjacent hospitals and the dead were rescued from the debris.
In the adjoining Al-Shifa hospital, scores of bodies covered in blood-stained sheets and white plastic wrap soon lined the floors as shocked and grieving family members attempted to identify loved ones.
Numerous individuals died, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, including women, children, employees, and “internally displaced people seeking safe shelter.”
The charity Doctors Without Borders’ (MSF) Ghassan Abu Sittah recalled, “We were functioning in the hospital. The surgery room’s ceiling collapsed after a powerful explosion.
A picture of Al-Ma’mouni Hospital in Gaza City after the heinous massacre committed by Israeli occupation warplanes last night, which claimed hundreds of Palestinians’ lives. pic.twitter.com/r2NVuPYgOU
— PALESTINE ONLINE (@OnlinePalEng) October 18, 2023
“Hospitals are not a target,” he declared. “This bloodletting must end. There has been enough.
The Anglican church, which manages the Ahli Arab Hospital, is represented by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He said that the facility was one of many hospitals in northern Gaza that were under evacuation orders and that it had already been targeted by “Israeli rocket fire” on October 14 that left four employees injured.
Since October 7, there have been more than 100 assaults on hospitals, ambulances, and other healthcare facilities, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.
International outrage was swiftly issued after word of the hospital’s demolition.
Josep Borrell, the head of the EU’s external policy, stated that “responsibility for this crime must be clearly established” and that “the perpetrators must be held accountable.”
The news coming from the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist hospital in Gaza add horror to the tragedy unfolding before our eyes since days.
Once again, innocent civilians pay the highest price. The responsibility for this crime must be clearly established & the perpetrators held accountable.— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 17, 2023
I am horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza today, which I strongly condemn. My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 17, 2023
Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar responded to the hospital strike by saying: “Strongly condemn the Israeli attack on Al-Ahly Al-Mamadany Hospital in Gaza, which resulted in significant civilian casualties. Targeting a hospital, a haven for the helpless, is an unjustifiable act of cruelty. Hospitals and medical staff are protected by international humanitarian law.
We encourage the international community to act quickly to put an end to the bloodshed and hold those involved accountable. “We demand an end to this indiscriminate targeting. I just spoke with the UN Secretary General, and I pushed him to call on the international community to ask Israel to stop killing Palestinians who are innocent.
Strongly condemn the Israeli attack on Al-Ahly Al-Mamadany Hospital in Gaza, causing immense civilian casualties. Targeting a hospital, a sanctuary for those in need, is an indefensible act of inhumanity. International humanitarian law give protection to hospitals and medical…
— Anwaar ul Haq Kakar (@anwaar_kakar) October 18, 2023
As protesters attempted to storm the Israeli embassy in Jordan, which is home to millions of Palestinian refugees, the response was swift and fierce throughout the region.
Outside the US embassy, protesters and security personnel battled in Lebanon. A structure was burned and stones were thrown.
The “unpredictable security situation” was cited by the US State Department as justification for allowing “some non-emergency” personnel to leave the Beirut embassy.
Hezbollah declared a “day of rage” in Lebanon on Wednesday, one of many nations in the region where street protests were anticipated.
The postponed four-way conference in Amman, according to Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi, will take place “when the decision to stop the war and put an end to these massacres has been taken.”
The White House announced late on Tuesday that Biden’s trip to Israel would go. He was scheduled to show his support for Israel in response to the Hamas strikes, which claimed the lives of 31 Americans.
Biden is also anticipated to advocate for measures to lessen the devastating humanitarian effects of Israel’s military assault on civilians and open the beleaguered Gaza Strip to aid during his visit.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, stated on Air Force One that Biden would pose “tough questions” to Netanyahu over the next course of action
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