Biden backs Israel in blaming Hamas for Gaza hospital strike

TEL AVIV, occupied Palestine — US President Joe Biden on a visit to Israel on Wednesday backed his ally’s stance blaming Islamist Palestinian fighters for a rocket strike on a hospital that killed hundreds in war-torn Gaza and has inflamed anger across the Middle East.

Arab countries have blamed Israel, which has rained bombs on Gaza since the bloody October 7 attack by Hamas, but Biden voiced support for Israel’s position that a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket had hit the Ahli Arab Hospital.

“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” Biden said at a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the morning after the blast that killed 200 to 300 people according to Gaza authorities.

“And, based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” said the US president, referring to the armed movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we have to overcome a lot of things,” Biden added after the first protests erupted against Israel and the United States, with more expected across the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Biden has expressed “iron-clad” US support for top regional ally Israel and its military campaign.

Israel’s military campaign had already left at least 3,000 dead inside Gaza before the hospital was destroyed.