18 October 2023 , 09:07
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US President Joe Biden has claimed the attack on a Gaza hospital which killed at least 500 people was not carried out by Israel.
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where hundreds of wounded Palestinians had been seeking shelter, was hit with an air strike on Tuesday. Hamas immediately blamed an Israeli air strike for the destruction, while Israel claimed a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket was the cause.
Biden, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday, met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport before the pair planned to carry out a number of meetings. It was here where Biden suggested the explosion at the Gaza City hospital was not caused by Israel.
"Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," Biden told Netanyahu. But Biden said there were "a lot of people out there" who weren't sure what caused the blast.
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More than 500 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital (Anadolu via Getty Images)Biden had planned face-to-face talks with King Abdullah of Jordan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his trip to Israel. However, following the hospital attack, those talks have been cancelled.
Now his only stop will be Tel Aviv, where he is expected to push for allowing critical humanitarian aid into Gaza during meetings with Netanyahu. Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack on October 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on board Air Force One that Biden “wants to get a sense from the Israelis on the situation on the ground” and will “ask some tough questions”. “He’ll be asking them as a friend,” Kirby added.
The president also plans to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims killed and hostages taken when Hamas made its incursion into Israel. Roughly 2,800 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. Those numbers pre-date the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital on Tuesday. No clear cause has been established for the blast.
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embrace at Ben Gurion International Airport (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)The UK has insisted it will work to “protect innocent civilian lives in Gaza". Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the destruction of al-Ahli Hospital has resulted in a “devastating loss of human life”.
Mr Cleverly said: “The destruction of al-Ahli Hospital is a devastating loss of human life. The UK has been clear: the protection of civilian life must come first. The UK will work with our allies to find out what has happened and protect innocent civilians in Gaza.”
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said it is a “complete and utter human tragedy” and called for an independent probe. “I think everybody has a responsibility to condemn it and condemn it in the strongest possible way,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“It’s a complete breach of international law – the targeting of a hospital. There should be an independent investigation to find those who are responsible for it.”