President Joe Biden on Wednesday pledged his support for Israel during his trip to Tel Aviv and said that a "terrorist group in Gaza" was apparently responsible for the deadly blast at a Christian-run hospital in Gaza City that is estimated to have killed hundreds.
“I was outraged and saddened by the enormous loss of life yesterday in the hospital in Gaza,” he told reporters in formal remarks. “Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appears as a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza. The United States unequivocally stands for the protection of civilian life during conflict.”
Biden also announced $100 million in new U.S. funding for humanitarian aid in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The U.S. has an independent assessment that it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group rocket that misfired and hit the hospital in Gaza, NBC News has reported, according to two senior U.S. officials.
That would match what Israeli officials have said caused the blast. Palestinian health officials and Hamas have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the explosion, which they said killed almost 500 people.
Biden stressed his support for Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas.
“The state of Israel was born to be a safe place for the Jewish people in the world,” he said. “I’ve long said, if Israel didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it. While it may not feel that way today, Israel must again be a safe place for the Jewish people. I promise you, we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure there will be.”
The president acknowledged that Palestinian people are “suffering greatly” and said he mourns the loss of “innocent Palestinian lives like the entire world.”
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people,” he said. “Hamas uses innocent families in Gaza as human shields, putting their command centers or weapons or communications tunnels in residential areas.”
Biden also said he believes a two-state solution would pave the way for peace between Israeli and Palestinian people.
Earlier in the day, in remarks after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said he was “deeply sad and outraged” over the deadly hospital blast. Israeli and Palestinian authorities blamed each other for the fatal explosion.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team — not you,” Biden said, addressing Netanyahu. “But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure, so we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.”
He then participated in an emotional meeting with first responders and families of those missing. Asked what made him confident the Israelis were not behind the hospital explosion, Biden said: “The data I was shown by my Defense Department.”
Biden did not provide any supporting evidence to the news media.
Biden landed in Tel Aviv on Wednesday for a brief but crucial trip meant to demonstrate U.S. solidarity with Israel ahead of an expected ground assault against Hamas and concerns about humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Netanyahu greeted him on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport, where they shook hands and embraced. Netanyahu extended the invitation after Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 people.
Biden also said for the first time during his trip that 31 Americans were killed. "It is not hyperbole to suggest slaughtered, slaughtered, and including 31 Americans, by the way," he said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 200 to 300 people were killed in what it called a "targeted" Israeli bombing of al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza. Israel said the blast was caused by a misfired rocket from a Palestinian militant group.
Biden initially planned to meet with Arab leaders at a summit hosted by Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman, but the event was canceled following the explosion.
On the way back to the U.S., Biden and a spokesman for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said an agreement has been reached to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
It will involve the supervision of the United Nations to secure the arrival of humanitarian aid, the spokesman said. Biden said it will involve up to 20 trucks to start. He warned that if Hamas steals the assistance, “it will end.”
NBC News reported Tuesday that Biden's team earlier in the week was considering the idea of his visiting Israel. One of the conditions was that the visit needed to take place before Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza, according to multiple current and former administration officials.
It is the second time during Biden's presidency that he has visited a war zone. In February, he traveled to Ukraine in a trip that was kept quiet until he arrived.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been engaging in shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East over the past week, meeting with Arab leaders from multiple countries. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also made a quick trip to Israel.
While Biden is on the ground, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a confirmation hearing for former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, his pick to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.
