President Joe Biden touched down in Israel early on Wednesday morning, arriving in the wake of a deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza the Palestinian Hamas terror group blamed on Israel, and that Israel said was caused by an errant rocket fired by terrorists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally welcomed Biden on the tarmac, embracing the U.S. president who then clasped his hands around Netanyahu in response.
Biden was originally scheduled to visit Jordan as well, but his meetings with Arab leaders were called off as he was leaving Washington in the wake of the hospital catastrophe, as Breitbart News reported.
U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on October 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian Hamas. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The loss of face-t0-face contact with regional leaders will cost him an opportunity he views as crucial for navigating escalating events in the region.
Now Biden’s only stop is Tel Aviv, where AP reports he’s expected to push for allowing critical humanitarian aid into Gaza during meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis and resulted in more being taken hostage.
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John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden “wants to get a sense from the Israelis on the situation on the ground” and will “ask some tough questions.”
“He’ll be asking them as a friend,” Kirby added, according to the AP report.
The president also planned to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims killed and hostages taken when Hamas made its incursion into Israel.
