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By Miriam Raftery
Photo: President Joe Biden, speaking in Tel Aviv, Israel (screenshot)
October 18, 2023 (Tel Aviv)—President Joe Biden, in Israel today, announced plans for the U.S. to send $150 million in aid to both Gaza and the West Bank. He also reaffirmed America’s support for Israel’s right to protect its freedom following the Hamas attacks on Israel.
In addition, Biden said he believes that the devastation at the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza yesterday was the result of a missile launch by Islamic Jihad, a militant group in Gaza, though Hamas has claimed Israel attacked the hospital.
He praised Israelis for their “courage, their commitment, their bravery” and reaffirmed that the U.S. stands with Israel. But he also cautioned Israel not to be consumed with “rage,” and noted that the U.S. has made “mistakes” during wartime in the past.
But the President also voiced concern over the welfare of the Palestinian people, noting that Hamas is not supported by most Palestinians.
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I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion (photo,right) at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” said Biden, alongside Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Afterwards in a press conference, Biden affirmed that he based his opinion that Israel was not responsible for the hospital bombing on “data I was shown by my Defense Department.”
Major media outlets have indicated it is difficult to determine conclusively who fired the missile or missiles that exploded in the parking lot of the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza run by the Anglican Church, where an estimated 1,000 Palestinian refugees had taken refuge in the parking lot. But what’s undisputed is the suffering that resulted. BBC confirms hundreds of people were killed in the tragic hospital bombing and many others injured, including children.
Mako 12, a TV station in southern Israel, has released video from a camera owned by the station that it claims offers “proof” that the hospital explosion was caused by a missile or missiles fired from inside Gaza; the video is date-stamped at 6:59 p.m., when the explosion occurred. The Israeli government has released a separate video claiming to show “a barrage” of missiles fired from within Gaza at the same time. The Israeli Defense Ministry also claims to have intercepted phone calls among Hamas militants acknowledging that the Islamic Jihad fired those missiles, but has not made any audiotape public as of now.
But Arab media initially blamed Israel for the hospital bombing, and Israel has conducted widespread bombings across Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks, striking some civilian targets. Israel notes that Hamas has a history of using civilians as human shields. However as the death toll rises and numerous Palestinians are displaced, the United Nations has called for a cease fire to bring humanitarian aid to Gazans.
King Abdullah II of Jordan called the explosion “a heinous war crime that cannot be ignored” and declared a three-day mourning period in his country for those killed.
Biden had planned to meet with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority in Jordon during his trip. But that visit was cancelled after news of the hospital bombing, when a day of mourning was declared throughout the Arab world. The hospital bombing has also sparked protests in cities across the Middle East and beyond, heightening tensions and raising fears that violence which has claimed thousands of lives in both Israel and Gaza could expand beyond Israel and Palestine.
Biden did call did speak by phone with some Arab leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also phoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas late yesterday to offer condolences and offer support for Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations,” according to the State Department. Biden supports a two-state solution, but Hamas has a stated goal of abolishing Israel.
While in Israel, Biden also visited with doctors treating Israelis wounded in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, also meeting with families there who lost loved ones in the attacks, which included slaughtering young people at a concert and residents of a kibbutz, including men, women, children and infants.
Biden emphasized the need for humanitarian aid in Gaza, where Israel has cut off supplies and fuel, with people running out of food, water and medical supplies. But he also cautioned that if Hamas “steals” that aid, it could be cut off. He voiced concern over the need to “prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians” in the war.
After Biden’s visit, Israel announced that it will allow food, water and medical aid to enter through Egypt, but has not yet said when that will occur.
To Israelis, Biden noted that 75 years ago, Israel was established to provide freedom, justice and peace after the Holocaust, and that Holocaust survivors have been traumatized again by the Oct. 7 attacks. “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.”
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