President Biden opened his visit to Israel Wednesday by blaming “the other team” for the explosion that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital — as Israel released video and audio it claims proves 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 said, referring to terrorists.
Still, he 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 militant group, which also denied responsibility.
Biden had planned to visit Jordan after the stop in Israel, but meetings there with Arab leaders were canceled after the hospital explosion.
He told Netanyahu he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the explosion and that it was not hyperbole to say Hamas had “slaughtered” Israelis in the Oct. 7 attack.
“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.
Bibi 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.
Meanwhile, the IDF on Wednesday released audio of what they said were Islamic Jihad terrorists discussing the rocket attack that hit the hospital.
In 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 IDF, which provided the following transcript:
“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!”
IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari laid out the IDF’s intelligence findings to prove that a Islamic Jihad failed rocket caused the explosion.
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.
At 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.
With Post Wires