New Delhi: U.S President Joe Biden upon reaching Tel Aviv on Wednesday backed Israel in its war against Hamas. The US president also condemned the strike on Gaza hospital that killed about 500 people. Biden said that the strike that killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital seems to not have been caused by Israel. “It looks like it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden said to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting.
But Biden said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure what caused the blast. The Gaza Health Ministry, run by Hamas, said an Israeli airstrike caused the damage. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a faulty rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that group also denied responsibility. Biden was also supposed to visit Jordan after stopping in Israel, but the meetings were canceled after the explosion at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah both called off a meeting with Biden, who was supposed to attend a summit in Amman with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders after the Gaza hospital strike.
Gaza authorities blame Israel’s military for the hospital bombing; Israeli authorities deny any involvement in the strike, which happened during a massive Israeli attack on the enclave and killed about 500. Biden left Washington Tuesday on what was supposed to be a complicated diplomatic mission, aimed at showing support for long-time U.S. ally Israel, calming the region and boosting humanitarian efforts for Gaza.
