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In Tel Aviv, Biden pins blame for Gaza hospital blast on ‘the other team’

18 October 2023 19:41 (UTC +04:00)

In a major boost for Jerusalem, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday backed Israel’s assertion that a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital the night before was the result of a misfired rocket by Palestinian terrorists, as he arrived in Israel for an unprecedented wartime visit by a US president, APA reports citing The Times of Israel.

“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” said Biden, sitting alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Tel Aviv hotel. “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you.”

At the same time, he added, “there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure. So we’ve gotta overcome a lot of things.”

Later Wednesday, Biden appeared to be asked by a loud group of reporters what information he used to make his assessment about the source of the Gaza hospital blast. He responded: “Data I was shown by my Defense Department.”

Aboard Air Force One on the flight over, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby had told reporters that Biden was going to ask Netanyahu some “tough questions as a friend of Israel” regarding Jerusalem’s strategy in the Gaza war.

The blast occurred on Tuesday evening in the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital parking lot. Palestinians and much of the Arab world blamed Israel, saying it had struck the medical facility and that hundreds had been killed. Jerusalem was swiftly condemned by Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others.

But the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday night said it was not behind the blast, and that a misfired rocket launched by Gaza terrorists caused the explosion. Netanyahu and other senior officials pointed at Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel presented additional evidence on Wednesday morning indicating that PIJ was responsible for the blast.