On a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden suggested the blast at al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip appeared to have been committed by the Palestinians, though he did not say whether responsibility lies with Hamas or with Islamic Jihad.
Biden said he was saddened and outraged to hear about the explosion at the hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night. "Based on what I’ve seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you [Israel],” he said. "There’s a lot of people out there who are not sure. So we’ve gotta overcome a lot of things.”
Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday morning for a complicated diplomatic visit more than a week after the biggest attack in the country in a generation. It is highly unusual for a US president to visit a country during wartime, though Biden also visited Ukraine earlier this year.
Greeting Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the people of Israel deeply appreciate the US president's arrival to the country, reflecting unwavering American support. “Just as the civilized world united to defeat the Nazis, and united to defeat ISIS, the civilized world must unite to defeat Hamas. … The forces of civilization will prevail — for our sake, for your sake, for peace and security in our region and in the world,” he said.
