Follow us on social

Biden to Israel: it appears 'other team' to blame for hospital bombing

Biden to Israel: it appears 'other team' to blame for hospital bombing

Biden landed in Tel Aviv today, pledging US support. He promised to raise humanitarian concerns, too.

Reporting | QiOSK

President Biden landed in Israel Wednesday and immediately held a meeting for press with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he seemed to endorse the Israeli's version of who caused the hospital explosion in Gaza on Tuesday.

"Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Netanyahu as they sat opposite each other. “But there’s a lot of people out there not sure.”

Israel has blamed Islamic Jihad Palestinian militants for they say was an errant bomb. Palestinian officials say Israel was responsible. Neither claim has been independently verified, and according to Peter Baker of the New York Times, U.S. officials told reporters on the plane to Israel that they were still gathering information, so it is not clear what Biden was looking at to make his assessment.

According to Gaza health authorities, the blast has so far killed 500 people, including staff, patients, and civilians who had taken refuge there after evacuation orders from Israel.

During this extraordinarily fraught visit, Biden will first assure Netanyahu of his support in the wake of the Hamas attacks and kidnappings last week, but he has pledged to raise humanitarian concerns with the prime minister, too, as Israel continues to pound the Gaza strip with missiles and still appears poised for a ground invasion. A humanitarian corridor to get basic supplies like water, food, and fuel to Palestinians in Gaza has yet to be opened. Jordan’s King Abdullah II called off meetings that were to be held with Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi , and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, after the hospital explosion yesterday.

UPDATE: At a later meeting with first responders and victim's families in Israel, Biden was asked why he felt "the other team" was responsible for the hospital strike:

Story is developing.


photo : U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Reporting | QiOSK
Munich Dispatch: Gaza issue banished to the sidelines this year
Top photo credit: Ursula von der Leyen speaks to the Munich Security Conference, 2/15/25 (MSC/Lennart Preiss)

Munich Dispatch: Gaza issue banished to the sidelines this year

Europe

MUNICH, GERMANY — Last year, the Munich Security Conference was dominated by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. This time around, the Gaza War has remained a notable absence in Munich, at least on the confab’s main stage.

This was confirmed on Sunday, the last day of the conference, which was light on headlines amid the snowy Munich outside. The big news story Sunday didn't even originate from the conference, but in reports suggesting U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia next week for talks to end the Ukraine War without the participation of Ukraine or other European countries.

keep readingShow less
Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference
Top photo credit: Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference 2/15/25 (MSC/Angelika Warmuth.)

Munich Dispatch: Zelensky calls for an 'Army of Europe'

Europe

MUNICH, GERMANY — During his keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference today Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky repeated the need for a “European army” — also framed as “an Army of Europe.”

What this specifically means is unclear, but the Ukrainian leader delivered the message home, if we are to judge by the headlines of the main European newspapers this afternoon. Zelensky tried to further raise the stakes by saying that Ukraine has intelligence that next summer Russia plans to send troops to Belarus. On that, he noted: “Is this Russian force in Belarus meant to attack Ukraine? Maybe, or maybe not. Or maybe it's meant for you. Let me remind you, Belarus borders 3 NATO countries.”

keep readingShow less
Munich Dispatch: Vance lectures Euros on democracy & tolerance
Top photo credit: MSC/Lennart Preiss

Munich Dispatch: Vance lectures Euros on democracy & tolerance

Europe

MUNICH, GERMANY — The Munich Security Conference started this Friday in a city recovering from an attack in which a suspect drove his car into a crowd of people, leaving 36 people injured on Thursday morning.

The international meeting also takes place against the backdrop of the German parliamentary elections on Feb. 23. Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate of the center-right Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) — which comfortably leads the polls with around 30% of support — could be spotted in the first row of the conference hall. Merz held a short meeting with United States Vice President J.D. Vance earlier in the day.

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.