US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel even as a massive explosion at a hospital in Gaza claimed the lives of more than 500 people, inviting global outrage amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas.
On Wednesday, Biden got off the plane amid heavy security, greeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
“Welcome, Mr President. God bless you for protecting the nation of Israel,” Herzog’s office quoted him as telling Biden, reports Al Jazeera.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Netanyahu, Biden extended his support to Israel and also pledged to provide the country with everything needed to defend itself.
Biden also accepted Netanyahu’s assertion that the blast at a hospital in Gaza had been caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch.
The US president said that he was “deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion” of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and “based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”
Biden was originally scheduled to visit Jordan as well. However, his meetings with Arab leaders were cancelled as he was leaving Washington on Tuesday evening.
About 3,300 Palestinians have been reported killed in Israel’s retaliatory air raids on Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
The attack on the hospital has led to protests in the region with hundreds of protesters flooding the streets of key West Bank cities, including Ramallah.
Both Israel and Hamas have been hurling accusations against each other over the blast. The Palestinian authorities have blamed Israel for targeting Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, while Israel has denied the accusations.