President Biden opened his visit to Israel Wednesday by blaming “the other team” for the explosion that purportedly killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital — as Israel released video and audio it claims proves Palestinian terrorists fired the deadly rocket.
“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting.
“And based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” he added.
However, Biden noted that there were “a lot of people out there” who weren’t sure what caused the blast at al-Ahli hospital.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed an Israeli airstrike caused the explosion, while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terror group, which also denied responsibility.
Asked by a journalist how he could attribute blame, Biden replied, “The data I was shown by my Defense Department.”
Video from Al Jazeera that circulated on social media Tuesday evening showed a barrage of rockets being launched toward Israel followed seconds later by a large explosion nearby, lending credence to the IDF account.
Biden had planned to visit Jordan after his stop in Israel, but meetings there with Arab leaders were canceled after the hospital blast.
Also Wednesday, the IDF released audio of what they said were Islamic Jihad terrorists discussing the hospital explosion.
As President Joe Biden stepped off of Air Force One, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the commander-in-chief into a tight embrace. APIn the audio, the terrorists acknowledge that the shrapnel of the missile “are local pieces, and not Israeli shrapnel,” according to a translation provided by the Israelis.
“They are saying this was Islamic Jihad,” one person said. “It seems that it was from us, yes.”
Someone also reportedly said, “My god, from us, it didn’t just explode, but in a hospital!”
Biden disembarks from Air Force One as he arrives in Israel on Oct. 18, 2023. REUTERSIDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari laid out the IDF’s intelligence findings to prove that the Jewish state was not responsible for the blast.
He also presented a video showing different stages of the rocket’s trajectory and the layout of the hospital being hit.
“The IDF has concluded an after-action review and confirmed that the Islamic Jihad was responsible for the strike. We did an immediate review for all relevant branches of the IDF,” Hagari said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
People gather by the wrapped bodies of victims who died in an overnight blast at the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza on October 18, 2023. AFP via Getty ImagesAt 6:15 p.m., a barrage of rockets was fired by Hamas at Israel, and at 6:50 p.m., a barrage of 10 rockets was fired by Islamic jIhad from a nearby cemetery, he said.
And at 6:59 pm., there were reports of an explosion at the hospital, he added.
“According to our intelligence, Hamas checked reports, and itself understood that it was as Islamic Jihad rocket misfired and decided to launch a global media campaign to hide what happened,” Hagari said.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
The president also told Netanyahu Wednesday that it was not hyperbole to say Hamas “slaughtered” more than 1,300 people in the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
“They have taken scores of people hostage, including children. You said, ‘Imagine what those children hiding from Hamas were thinking.’ It’s beyond my comprehension to imagine what they were thinking,” Biden said.
“They have committed evils and atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational,” he continued. “Americans are grieving with you, they really are. Americans are worried… because they know this is not an easy field to navigate what you have to do.”
Biden added: “I wanted to be here today for a simple reason: I want the people of Israel and the people of the world to know where the United States stands…. I wanted to personally come and make that clear,” Biden said.
Netanyahu, whose government has come under pressure to explain intelligence failures that made the attack possible, thanked Biden for coming to Israel, telling him the visit was “deeply, deeply moving.”
“I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you, Mr. President, thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow, and always,” the prime minister said.
The two men did not take questions after their initial remarks.
With Post Wires
