Biden Tells Netanyahu: Gaza Hospital Blast "Done By The Other Team"

President Joe Biden opened his visit to Israel on Wednesday by vowing to show the world that the US stands in solidarity with the Jewish people.

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the explosion. But he also said it was not hyperbole to say Hamas had “slaughtered” Israelis in the Oct. 7 attack. I Photo: President Joe Biden Facebook

The Commander-in-Chief also offered a wild assessment that the deadly explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital appeared to have been carried out “by the other team” and not the Israeli military, Aamer Madhani and Colleen Long reported for the Associated Press (AP).

“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting, referring to Hamas militants.

But Biden said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure what caused the blast.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction and hundreds of deaths. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility.

Biden had been scheduled to visit Jordan after the stop in Israel, but meetings there with Arab leaders were called off after the hospital explosion.

He told Netanyahu he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the explosion. But he also said it was not hyperbole to say Hamas had “slaughtered” Israelis in the Oct. 7 attack.

“Americans are grieving, they really are,” Biden said. “Americans are worried.”

Netanyahu thanked Biden for coming to Israel, telling him the visit was “deeply, deeply moving,” Matthew Lee, Chris Megerian, Will Weissert and Darlene Superville also reported for AP.

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