US President Joe Biden has backed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Gaza hospital bombing that hundreds. Biden, who arrived in Israel earlier today, said that from what he has seen, it appeared the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza city was not bombed by Israel but the other party.
“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,” he told Netanyahu, according to the Times of Israel.
Biden’s extraordinary war time visit to Israel was being seen as a balancing act by Washington in view of its “full support” to Israel in their was against Hamas and the humanitarian crisis it has caused in Gaza. Biden was also scheduled to meet Arab leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan, but that meeting has been called off following the hospital attack.
Hamas and the Palestinian authorities have accused Israel of bombing the hospital. However, Israel has denied their allegations and claimed the hospital attack was result of misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets.
Addressing a press conference, IDF spokesperson Hagari said that after careful review of “evidence”, they have concluded that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible for the Al Ahli hospital blast.
“We did an immediate review with all relevant branches of the IDF,” Hagari told reporters, narrating the events that unfolded before the attack.
He said that moments before the hospital blast, a barrage of rockets was fired by Hamas towards Israel at 18:15 local time on Tuesday and nearly 45 minutes later, around 10 more rockets were fired by the PIJ from a nearby cemetery. At the same time, he claimed, the hospital was bombed.
Hagari also claimed to have intelligence that shows communication between militant groups discussing failed rocket launches. A purported conversation between militants was also shared on X by the IDF.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also condemned the Gaza hospital blast, raising “serious concerns” over civilian deaths in the Israel-Hamas war that broke out following the deadly October 7 attacks in Israel.