On Risky Israel Trip, Biden Now Faces Aftermath Of Gaza Hospital Strikes
NDTV
The trip was always set to be the riskiest of Biden's presidency as he tried to juggle support for Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks with efforts to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and to avert a wider war.
US President Joe Biden's wartime trip to Israel and Jordan faltered before it got off the ground Tuesday, after the Amman leg was canceled following a strike on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people.The trip was always set to be the riskiest of Biden's presidency as he tried to juggle support for Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks with efforts to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and to avert a wider war.
But his regional balancing act came undone on the eve of his visit with news of the hospital explosion -- for which Hamas blamed Israeli strikes, while Israel said it was caused by a rocket misfired by militants in Gaza.
As Biden, 80, climbed the steps of Air Force One, Jordan announced that a planned four-way summit with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was off.
