Biden says Israel not to blame for rocket attack on Gaza hospital that left 500 dead: ‘Done by the other team’
Fox News
President Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday, where he held a brief press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In their remarks, both leaders highlighted the death toll, the atrocities committed by Hamas, and the impact on children in Israel.
Biden also said Israel was not to blame for a rocket attack on a hospital in Gaza, which left at least 500 people dead.
“I was outraged by the bombing of the hospital yesterday. Based on what I’ve seen, it was done by the other team. Not you,” Biden said to Netanyahu. “But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure.”
Biden added: “The world is looking. Israel has a value set like the United States does and other democracies and they’re looking to see what we’re going to do.”
Netanyahu spoke first during the presser, applauding Biden for being the first U.S. president to visit Israel during a wartime.
He also urged the president to imagine what the Israeli children were imagining when Hamas fighters broke into their homes and found their hiding spots.
“It’s beyond my comprehension,” Biden said during his remarks. He also said Hamas was guilty of slaughtering Israelis: “They’ve committed evils that atrocities that make ISIS somewhat more rational.”
The two left the conference without answering any questions. Biden will meet privately with the Israeli leaders.
The president’s comments about the hospital came after a Hamas-run hospital that was treating wounded Palestinians and sheltering many others in the Gaza Strip was hit and exploded Tuesday, killing hundreds of people.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 500 people were killed at al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City with many people still stuck under the rubble.
The cause of the explosion is disputed by Hamas, who said it was the result of an Israeli airstrike. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed the strike on the Islamic Jihad.
When asked earlier in the day, the IDF said it was investigating the source of the explosion, noting that the hospital is a “highly sensitive building” and is “not an IDF target.”
Following an investigation, the IDF provided its findings with regard to the source of the airstrike.
“An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the al-Ahli [Baptist] hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” IDF officials said. “Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.”
The attack caused an international summit that was initially set for Wednesday to be canceled. It was going to feature Biden, Jordan’s Abdullah, Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The international community continues to press for information on what caused the explosion as attacks on hospitals, schools and other civilian targets are widely criticized.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Trey Yingst contributed to this report.