Biden arrives in Israel amid hospital explosion outcry

By Nathan Morley

US President Joe Biden has arrived in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel in the midst of an outcry over claims and counterclaims about a devastating explosion at a hospital in Gaza.

Biden said from what he’d been told, the incident was the fault of Palestinians, not Israel.

Sitting next to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his arrival in Israel, Biden said it was – in his words – ‘the other team’.

Though Hamas insist Israel was responsible for the hospital explosion, the chief Israeli military spokesman Real admiral Daniel Hegari blamed it on a misfiring Palestinian rocket, adding the physical evidence at the scene backed up his claim.

Furthermore, the Israeli military says 450 rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel, only to crash in Gazan territory, since the conflict erupted a few weeks ago.

During the course of his visit, Biden will meet some of the Israelis affected by the Hamas attacks eleven days ago but a planned meeting with the Egyptian President, Palestinian leader and Jordanian king in Amman have been cancelled. 

Earlier, the Palestinian Health Minister said the number killed in Gaza since Israel began its airstrikes has risen to 3,300. A further 13,000 have been injured.

At least 1,300 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attacks that started the latest cycle of violence, with at least 199 people thought to have been kidnapped and taken hostage.