Live updates: Biden arrives in Tel Aviv; Hamas and Israel blame hospital bombing.
President of the United States Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday and intends to express “solidarity” with the nation after its terrorist assault on October 7.
After that, he was supposed to go to Jordan to talk with Arab leaders about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, but that trip was postponed as a result of a horrific hospital bombing in Gaza that killed hundreds of people who were taking cover there.
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Arab officials and the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, lay the responsibility for the assault squarely on Israel’s Defense Forces, which have been ruthlessly pounding Gaza every day since the Hamas terror attack on Israel, which claimed about 1,300 lives.
Israel attributes the hospital explosion to a botched missile launch and accuses Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad of it. More than 3,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s shelling of Gaza and complete closure of the tiny enclave, according to the health ministry for the region. Street demonstrations in the region’s capitals were sparked by horrifying images of the injured.
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President Biden receives a sincere thank you from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for his ‘unequivocal’ support.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, hailed Joe Biden for his “unequivocal” support and said it was “deeply, deeply moving” for him to visit the nation during a time of conflict.
On Wednesday morning, Biden traveled to Tel Aviv for the first time since the conflict began. Since the crisis began, a number of prominent American officials have made comparable journeys, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who made two trips to Tel Aviv during that period.
“You called the actions taken by Hamas pure evil. In Tel Aviv, Netanyahu told Biden that the terrorist assault by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas on October 7 was just that.
“Mr. President, there is only one thing for the people of Israel better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel, and that is having you standing in Israel,” Netanyahu added. “We appreciate your support of Israel today, tomorrow, and always.”
