Current Events > Biden, in Israel, says hospital blast caused by militants

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-heads-middle-east-inflamed-by-gaza-hospital-blast-2023-10-18/

GAZA/TEL AVIV, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday pledging solidarity in its war against Hamas and backing its account that a blast that killed huge numbers of Palestinians at a Gaza hospital had been caused by militants.

The fireball that engulfed the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital delivered some of the most harrowing images yet from a 12-day war, and wrecked White House plans for Biden's emergency diplomatic mission to the Middle East, with Arab leaders calling off their planned summit with the U.S. president.

Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli air strike for the blast, which it said had killed as many as 500 people. Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.

Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said: "I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you."

"But there's a lot of people out there not sure, so weve got a lot, weve got to overcome a lot of things," Biden added.

"The world is looking. Israel has a value set like the United States does, and other democracies, and they are looking to see what we are going to do."

Biden's trip to the Middle East was supposed to calm the region, even as he demonstrated U.S. support for its ally Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement whose fighters killed 1,400 Israelis in a rampage on Oct. 7.

But after the hospital blast, Jordan cancelled the second half of Biden's itinerary: a planned summit in Amman with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu thanked Biden for his "unequivocal support". President Isaac Herzog's office said the head of state had told Biden: "God bless you for protecting the nation of Israel."

'HELP US, HELP US!'

The scenes of destruction from the hospital were horrific even by the standards of the past 12 days, which have confronted the world with relentless images, first of Israelis slaughtered in their homes and then of Palestinian families buried under rubble from Israel's retaliatory strikes.

Rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors. A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500, though Israel disputed those figures. Palestinian ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still recovering bodies.

"People came running into the surgery department screaming, 'Help us, help us, there are people killed and wounded inside the hospital!'" said Dr Fadel Naim, Head of the hospital's Orthopedic Surgery Department.

"The hospital was full of dead and wounded, dismembered bodies, and dead," he told Reuters. "We tried to save whoever can be saved but the number was too big for the hospital team to be able to save... We saw them alive but we couldn't help them and they were martyred."

Israel later released drone footage of the scene of the hospital explosion, which it said showed it was not responsible because there was no impact crater from any missile or bomb.

The Israeli military published what it said was an audio recording of "communication between terrorists talking about rockets misfiring".

Palestinians were convinced the explosion was an Israeli attack, with no warning for civilians to leave a hospital that was being used as a shelter by thousands of Gazans already made homeless by Israeli bombing.

"This place created a safe haven for women and children, those who escaped the Israeli bombing," another doctor at the hospital, Ibrahim Al-Naqa, told Reuters. "We don't know what the shell is called but we saw the results of it when it targeted children and ripped their bodies into pieces."

'COOL HEADS'

After Biden backed the Israeli account, other Western leaders also called for caution.
"Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital," Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly posted on X. "Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk. Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail."

The blast unleashed new fury on streets across the Middle East, even as Biden sought to calm emotions and prevent the conflict from sweeping across borders.

Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse anti-government protesters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, seat of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, one of the Arab leaders who cancelled meeting Biden.

The U.S. State Department issued a new warning to Americans not to travel to Lebanon, where border clashes between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and Israel over the past week have been the deadliest since the last all-out war in 2006.

Biden has strongly backed Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks. But he is under intense pressure to win a clear Israeli commitment to alleviate the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million Palestinians are under total siege, with no access to food, fuel, water or medical supplies.

The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that humanitarian aid would be made available in a "humanitarian zone" in Al-Mawasi on the south of the Gaza Strip coast near the Egyptian border. It did not spell out how aid would get there.

Biden has strongly backed Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks. But he is under intense pressure to win a clear Israeli commitment to alleviate the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million Palestinians are under total siege, with no access to food, fuel, water or medical supplies.

Part of me wants to renounce my American citizenship over US unequivocally backing Israel

So do it. Its not hard. Maybe North Korea would be more your speed.

Of course anyone who criticizes the US government must be supporting North Korea LMAO

"I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you."

Of course anyone who criticizes the US government must be supporting North Korea LMAO

So about them Uighurs...

Criticizing the US government is one thing. Renouncing your citizenship is something else.

So do it. Its not hard. Maybe North Korea would be more your speed.

Back to topic - as much as I want to believe the President, the gaff during the speech last week has me very skeptical about this. You just dont know who to believe anymore.

So do it. Its not hard. Maybe North Korea would be more your speed.

Back to topic - as much as I want to believe the President, the gaff during the speech last week has me very skeptical about this. You just dont know who to believe anymore.

So tell me again how does renouncing your citizenship to protest US foreign policy automatically make someone a supporter of North Korea?

Maybe he's just comparing countries that are known mainly for committing crimes against humanity

Biden is as weak as them all. No balls to call out both sides in this ongoing war of atrocities. We should not have allies there. Fuck Israel and fuck Hamas.

And I guess the "America First" Republicans change their tune when a fascist foreign country is oppressing Muslims.

Actually, I figured if you are going to be a traitor, why not go all the way with it?

He is just parroting what Netanyahu told him. He doesn't actually have proof of who did it

So, do you have any proof who did it, then?

Don't get me wrong:
We all have the same opinion about civil casualties. They should be avoided at all costs, regardless of which group they belong to. At least, I hope that still unites us.

But after reading through several topics here, I think some people don't quite get the facts straight and are way too invested into this. They only believe anymore, what they want to believe. I mean, your post suggests that both Netanyahu and Biden lied, but what proof do you have?

If I don't know something, I try to stay rational and avoid jumping to conclusions. Most importantly, I don't believe each and all sources, especially not from Twitter and alikes.

What I wanna say: Some people should take a deep breath once and a while...

What happens to Palestine citizens is not okay, but so is what happened to Israel and other nations citizens 1.5 weeks ago. This conflict is complex and can't just be divided into a "good" and a "bad" side.

That's why it's important to stay rational. It's okay - even needed! - to criticize Israel for Palestine civil casualties. On the other hand, what Hamas did was absolutely cruel, because they intenionally and deliberately targeted civilians. They should be called out, too. That's why it's wrong to just demonizing one group and glorifying the other.

Looking at the evidence it think it's probably a safe bet to make. At the very least it is highly improbable that this was an intentional (targeted) attack by anyone, and especially no IDF air strike etc. Given the video of the rocket breaking up over the area just before the explosion (complete with another much smaller explosion near by just seconds before the big one) and the nature of the damage to the hospital, well it's parking lot to be more specific. Little to no high explosive evidence, all fire and fire explosion damage. This seems like a tragic case of the misfire of a rocket.

I do tend to believe the final (or at least actual) death toll is going to be far lower than some of the numbers floating around. The crowd would have to have been so dense as to risk a crush, just at the right spot to kill those kinds of numbers.

This is not high explosive damage:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/4/1/AADhijAAE8nJ.jpg

Those cars aren't even banged up, just burned.

I mean unless something else comes out.. or we see stuff much more severe, i don't see how this can be pinned on anyone intentionally, or the IDF in general.

Looking at the evidence it think it's probably a safe bet to make. At the very least it is highly improbable that this was an intentional (targeted) attack by anyone, and especially no IDF air strike etc. Given the video of the rocket breaking up over the area just before the explosion (complete with another much smaller explosion near by just seconds before the big one) and the nature of the damage to the hospital, well it's parking lot to be more specific. Little to no high explosive evidence, all fire and fire explosion damage. This seems like a tragic case of the misfire of a rocket.

I do tend to believe the final (or at least actual) death toll is going to be far lower than some of the numbers floating around. The crowd would have to have been so dense as to risk a crush, just at the right spot to kill those kinds of numbers.

This is not high explosive damage:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/4/1/AADhijAAE8nJ.jpg

Those cars aren't even banged up, just burned.

At the very least it is highly improbable that this was an intentional (targeted) attack by anyone, and especially no IDF air strike etc.

don't understand why people keep engaging with one of the biggest trolls since this horrible series events started.

Looking at the evidence it think it's probably a safe bet to make. At the very least it is highly improbable that this was an intentional (targeted) attack by anyone, and especially no IDF air strike etc. Given the video of the rocket breaking up over the area just before the explosion (complete with another much smaller explosion near by just seconds before the big one) and the nature of the damage to the hospital, well it's parking lot to be more specific. Little to no high explosive evidence, all fire and fire explosion damage. This seems like a tragic case of the misfire of a rocket.

I do tend to believe the final (or at least actual) death toll is going to be far lower than some of the numbers floating around. The crowd would have to have been so dense as to risk a crush, just at the right spot to kill those kinds of numbers.

This is not high explosive damage:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/4/1/AADhijAAE8nJ.jpg

Those cars aren't even banged up, just burned.

I mean unless something else comes out.. or we see stuff much more severe, i don't see how this can be pinned on anyone intentionally, or the IDF in general.

He took swipes at Mr. Netanyahu on the Brian Kilmeade Show, a Fox News Radio show, broadcast on Thursday, arguing that intelligence lapses by Israel had left it vulnerable to the sweeping attack, kidnappings and slaughter of civilians leading to the war.

We've reached the stage where Trump is more critical of Netanyahu than Biden

Looking at the evidence it think it's probably a safe bet to make. At the very least it is highly improbable that this was an intentional (targeted) attack by anyone, and especially no IDF air strike etc. Given the video of the rocket breaking up over the area just before the explosion (complete with another much smaller explosion near by just seconds before the big one) and the nature of the damage to the hospital, well it's parking lot to be more specific. Little to no high explosive evidence, all fire and fire explosion damage. This seems like a tragic case of the misfire of a rocket.

I do tend to believe the final (or at least actual) death toll is going to be far lower than some of the numbers floating around. The crowd would have to have been so dense as to risk a crush, just at the right spot to kill those kinds of numbers.

This is not high explosive damage:

Those cars aren't even banged up, just burned.

o, do you have any proof who did it, then?

Don't get me wrong:
We all have the same opinion about civil casualties. They should be avoided at all costs, regardless of which group they belong to. At least, I hope that still unites us.

But after reading through several topics here, I think some people don't quite get the facts straight and are way too invested into this. They only believe anymore, what they want to believe. I mean, your post suggests that both Netanyahu and Biden lied, but what proof do you have?

If I don't know something, I try to stay rational and avoid jumping to conclusions. Most importantly, I don't believe each and all sources, especially not from Twitter and alikes.

What I wanna say: Some people should take a deep breath once and a while...

What happens to Palestine citizens is not okay, but so is what happened to Israel and other nations citizens 1.5 weeks ago. This conflict is complex and can't just be divided into a "good" and a "bad" side.

That's why it's important to stay rational. It's okay - even needed! - to criticize Israel for Palestine civil casualties. On the other hand, what Hamas did was absolutely cruel, because they intenionally and deliberately targeted civilians. They should be called out, too. That's why it's wrong to just demonizing one group and glorifying the other.

Wow, I hadn't seen the aftermath photo. Geez, the cars are intact and the parking lot is still navigable.

There is no physical evidence of an IDF strike.

You're playing with nonsense.

Between yesterday's topic and this one we can basically conclude the IDF position is: Israel didn't do it, but if they did then they were right for doing it and should do more of it actually

So answer why did they warn the hospital about the attack 1 hour before.
Why did they claim they did it in a tweet they then deleted ?