Biden, in Israel, on Gaza hospital attack: ‘Based on what I’ve seen it appears as though it was done by the other team’

Joe Biden held a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving in Tel Aviv Wednesday, during which the U.S. president addressed the bombing of the al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip a day earlier, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people sheltering from Israeli shelling of the Palestinian enclave in the wake of the October 7 attacks launched across the border by Hamas. “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. But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure. So we’ve got to overcome a lot of things,” Biden told Netanyahu.

The tragedy at the al-Ahli hospital prompted Tehran to raise its tone against Israel. “The flames of the U.S.-Israeli bombs, dropped this evening on the Palestinian victims injured at the hospital in Gaza, will soon consume the Zionists,” said Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The attack has sparked protests in several countries, while Hamas and Hezbollah are calling for mobilizations across the Muslim world. “Let tomorrow, Wednesday, be a day of rage against the enemy,” Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia based in southern Lebanon, said in a statement.

Israel insists that the destruction of the hospital was the result of a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, while Hamas has blamed an Israeli air strike for the catastrophe. According to the Gazan Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli bombardments now stands at 3,200, 200 more than on Tuesday, despite the same source stating 500 people had been killed in the attack on the al-Ahli hospital.

Shortly after landing in Tel Aviv, Biden said he had seen evidence offered by the Israeli government that “seemed to support” Tuesday’s attack was not Israel’s doing, contrary to the claims by Hamas, which has ruled the Strip since 2007.

The U.S. president, who canceled a planned trip to Jordan in the wake of the hospital bombing after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning over what he described as a “massacre” at al-Ahli, expressed Washington’s continued support for Israel’s defense.

“In the wake of Hamas’ appalling terrorist assault, it was brutal, inhumane […] this cabinet came together. We stand here strong, we stand here united, and I want you to know you’re not alone. As I emphasized earlier, we will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people. We will continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians. Seventy-five years ago, your founders declared that this nation would be one, quote, based on freedom, justice, and peace. Based on freedom, justice and peace. The United States stands with you in defense of that freedom, in pursuit of that justice, and in support of that peace, today, tomorrow, and always, I promise you,” Biden said at the press conference with his Israeli counterpart.

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