US President Joe Biden blamed Israel’s enemies for the deadly attack at a Gaza hospital during his meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
Biden, who arrived earlier in Israel, told the Israeli leader the deadly bombing of a Gaza hospital “appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”
“The point is, is that I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of 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,” he told Netanyahu after his arrival in Israel on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden says he was "deeply saddened and outraged" by the Gaza hospital explosion, and tells Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you."https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/MzucWQs9Af
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 18, 2023
Authorities in Gaza have said Israel is behind the deadly blast at the hospital, while the Israel Defense Forces said its intelligence showed a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible for the explosion that left hundreds dead.
US President Joe Biden again pledged American support for Israel, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I wanted to be here today for the simple reason I want the people of Israel, people of the world to know the United States stands.”
“I wanted to personally come and make that clear,” Biden said.
Biden: Hamas committed evils against Israel
The President condemned Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel, saying the group has “committed evils, [and] atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational.”
However, he acknowledged that while Israel has the right to defend itself, “we have to also bear in mind that a Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people, and has brought them only suffering.”
Biden confirmed that the U.S. death toll following the Hamas attack on Israel has climbed to thirty-one people.
“The terrorist group Hamas has slaughtered, it has been pointed out, over 1,300 people and it is not hyperbole to suggest slaughtered, slaughtered—including 31 Americans—and they’ve taken scores of people hostage, including children,” he said.
Netanyahu, for his part, thanked Biden for his visit, noting: “Your visit here is the first visit of an American president in Israel at a time of war.”
“It is deeply, deeply moving, it speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to Israel, it speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to the future of the Jewish people, and the one and only Jewish state,” he said. “So I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you, Mr. President.”
Netanyahu said, “There’s only one thing better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel, and that is having you standing in Israel.”
Biden’s visit to Israel hours after deadly blast at Gaza hospital
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, in response to the October 7th terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people.
The horror of events at Ahli Arab Hospital and the swift backlash threatened to derail Biden’s high-stakes visit to the Middle East, which got underway on Wednesday.
Biden was due to attend a meeting scheduled in Jordan with several Arab leaders, but the summit was canceled in the wake of a blast at the Gaza hospital.
While aboard Air Force One on his way to Israel overnight on Tuesday, Biden released a statement saying he was “outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.”
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
