Biden to Pose ‘Tough Questions’ on Israeli ‘Plans’ After Gaza Explosion During High-Stakes Visit – News18

A top White House official said US President Joe Biden plans to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some “tough questions as a friend of Israel” regarding Tel Aviv’s strategy amid the ongoing war against Hamas. This trip comes in the wake of a strike on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of Palestinians, deepening tensions in the Middle East and raising the stakes for Biden’s visit which was meant to signal support for its war against Hamas.

“When he talks to Prime Minister Netanyahu and to the war cabinet, he’s going to be doing a few things. One, he’s going to get a sense from the Israelis about the situation on the ground and, more critically, their objectives, their plans, their intentions in the days and weeks ahead. And he’ll be asking some tough questions. He’ll be asking them as a friend — as a true friend of Israel,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One with the president en route to Tel Aviv.

“But he will be asking some questions of them. He’s also going to make it clear that we continue to want to see this conflict not widen, not expand, not deepen. And he’ll make that point very clearly. We do — we want to deter any actor, be it a state or a terrorist group, from widening and escalating,” he added.

High-Stakes Trip

Biden’s visit will be building off of a passionate speech last week in which he expressed his horror over the October 7 assault by Hamas. However, his trip faltered before it began following Tuesday’s hospital explosion in Gaza. Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility. Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the hospital.

The US President said he was outraged by the attack. However, Biden’s Jordan leg of the trip where he was supposed to meet in a four-way summit with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and Egypt’s president was called off following the explosion. “I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted. Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened,” Biden wrote on X, formerly known as X.

Increasing Death Toll

The war that began earlier this month has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, The Associated Press reported. Over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza.

In Israel, Kirby said Biden will meet with the families of people killed in Hamas’s brutal massacre in Israel on October 7, and of people who were abducted by the terror group. The shock Hamas onslaught killed some 1,300 people. The White House official said that in discussions with Israeli leaders, Biden will also discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Washington has been pushing.

Israel has largely held off on allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, as it seeks to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Washington has also been pressing Israel to flesh out its strategy for the day after it completes its stated war goal of toppling Hamas.

(With agency inputs)