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Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas\u2019 attacks on October 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis.<\/p>\n
John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden \u201cwants to get a sense from the Israelis on the situation on the ground\u201d and will \u201cask some tough questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll be asking them as a friend,\u201d Kirby added.<\/p>\n
The president also planned to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims killed and hostages taken when Hamas made its incursion into Israel.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Those numbers predate the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital on Tuesday. No clear cause has been established for the blast.<\/p>\n
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Biden said in a statement that he was \u201coutraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he \u201cdirected my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Protests swept through the region after the deaths at the hospital, which had been treating wounded Palestinians and sheltering many more who were seeking a refuge from the fighting.<\/p>\n Hundreds of Palestinians flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah.<\/p>\n More people joined protests that erupted in Beirut, Lebanon and Amman, Jordan, where an angry crowd gathered outside the Israeli Embassy.<\/p>\n Outrage over the hospital explosion scuttled Biden\u2019s plans to visit Jordan, where King Abdullah II had planned to host meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. But Abbas withdrew in protest, and the summit was subsequently canceled outright.<\/p>\n Kirby said Jordan had declared three days of mourning after the hospital explosion and that Biden understood the move and was part of a \u201cmutual\u201d decision to call off the Jordan portion of his trip.<\/p>\n There are also fears that a new front could erupt along Israel\u2019s northern border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates.<\/p>\n He said Biden would have an opportunity to speak to the Arab leaders by phone as he returned to Washington.<\/p>\n Ayman Safadi, Jordan\u2019s foreign minister, told a state-run television network that the war is \u201cpushing the region to the brink.\u201d<\/p>\n The Iran-backed organization has been skirmishing with Israeli forces.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s trip will test the limits of U.S. influence in the Middle East at a volatile time.<\/p>\n It\u2019s his second trip to a conflict zone this year, after visiting Ukraine in February to show solidarity with the country as it battles a Russian invasion.<\/p>\n The visit to Israel coincides with rising humanitarian concerns in Gaza, where Israel has cut off the flow of food, fuel and water.<\/p>\n Mediators have been struggling to break a deadlock over providing supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals.<\/p>\n US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, bouncing back and forth between Arab and Israeli leadership ahead of Biden\u2019s visit, spent seven and a half hours meeting Monday in Tel Aviv in an effort to broker some kind of aid agreement and emerged with a green light to develop a plan on how aid can enter Gaza and be distributed to civilians.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re optimistic that we\u2019ll be able to get some humanitarian assistance in,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n Although only a modest accomplishment on the surface, US officials stressed that Blinken\u2019s talks led to a significant change in Israel\u2019s position going in \u2014 that Gaza would remain cut off from fuel, electricity, water and other essential supplies.<\/p>\n US officials said it has become clear that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel\u2019s military operations would evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsened.<\/p>\n Their analysis projected that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would not only be a boon to Hamas but would likely encourage Iran to step up its anti-Israel activity, adding to fears that a regional conflagration might erupt, according to four officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking.<\/p>\n
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