The day after the attack on a hospital in Gaza, US President Joe Biden visited Israel. He says that Israel has become stronger than ever, and warns their enemies in the region.
Thousands of people have already been killed after the Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent bombing of Gaza. On Tuesday, a hospital in Gaza was bombed, and at least 500 people were said to have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities. Among other things, Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Many meetings that Biden was supposed to hold during the trip were cancelled. However, he is standing on stage on Wednesday and speaking about the situation between Hamas and Israel.
My message to any hostile country or entity thinking of attacking Israel is the same as it was a week ago: No, no, no.
– It was like September 11th
– Rape, beheading and burning people alive. Hamas has committed atrocities reminiscent of the worst of the Islamic State. They unleashed pure evil upon the world.
On October 7, Hamas entered several places in Israel. At least 1,400 people were killed in the attacks over the weekend, according to Israeli media. On October 8, Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced that they had taken 130 hostages in Gaza after the attack.
On Tuesday, they promised to release them if the bombing of Gaza stopped, according to the BBC.
– For me as an American president, there is no higher priority than the freedom of the hostages and their safe return.
Later this week, I will ask the US Congress for an unprecedented support package to defend Israel.
It ensures that they will keep Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system fully charged. The US President confirms that the United States has already sent an aircraft carrier to the region, and now there is another on the way.
– The world wants to know that Israel is stronger than ever.
From the podium in Tel Aviv, Joe Biden compares the attack on Israel on October 7 to the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
– For a country the size of Israel, it was like the events of September 11.
– Hamas is not Palestine
The president says he is certain the October 7 attacks stirred emotions in Israel, as they did in the United States after the terrorist attacks in 2001.
But I warn you, while you feel this anger, do not get caught up in it.
Biden says that the Americans themselves were angry after they were attacked 22 years ago. He says that the Americans sought and obtained justice, but they made mistakes.
– I have made the decisions for war. I know that the choices are never clear or easy for management. There are always costs.
- Confused by the conflict? Read more about the background here.
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– The vast majority of Palestinians are not from Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.
The president claims that Hamas is using the civilian population as human shields.
– They place their command centers, weapons and communications in residential areas. The Palestinian people are also suffering.
The investigation does not refer to Israel
The White House says, according to Reuters, that the investigation indicates that Israel is not responsible for the attack on the hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.
They based this on image analysis and information from open sources.
A White House spokesman said on Wednesday evening that the United States continues to collect information about the incident. Biden says from the podium that the information available to them indicates a mistaken attack launched by terrorists in Gaza.
The United States stands firm to protect civilian lives during conflicts. I grieve, truly grieve, for the families who were injured or killed during this tragedy.
Biden says he met with the Israeli Senate, asking them to accept the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to the Palestinian side.
– Aid should go to civilians, not Hamas. If accepted, humanitarian aid could begin moving from Egypt to Gaza.
Biden also announced that he was guaranteeing an additional $100 million to support humanitarian aid in Gaza and the West Bank.
Correction: In the first version of this article, we wrote that at least 200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. It only referred to the attack on the Supernova music festival, where the death toll was said to be at least 260 people. Hamas carried out a large-scale terrorist attack against several targets, including a music festival, where at least 1,400 people were killed. His death has been confirmed so far, according to the Israeli authorities. This was corrected on 18 October 2023 at 18.28.
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