President Biden, who made a high-profile wartime visit to Israel today, said American intelligence showed that the deadly explosion that ripped through a hospital in Gaza yesterday was caused by Palestinian fighters.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Tel Aviv.
American officials said that multiple strands of intelligence — including infrared satellite data — indicated that the blast had been caused by the launch of a rocket or a missile from Palestinian fighter positions within Gaza. A spokeswoman for the National Security Council said its “current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information, is that Israel is not responsible.” (Here is a map of the hospital and what we know about the blast.)
Palestinian officials blamed the explosion on an Israeli airstrike, an assertion that was disputed by the Israeli military, which said it had been caused by a malfunctioning rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an armed group allied with Hamas. Neither side’s account has been independently verified, and the death toll remains unclear.
With the region convulsing with anger and protests after the blast, it was uncertain whether the American endorsement of Israel’s denial would do much to convince many in the Arab world.
During his visit, Biden also announced $100 million in U.S. aid to help civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. He said he had secured a commitment from Israel’s government to allow food, water and medicine to be delivered to Gaza from Egypt.
Before leaving, Biden pledged his support for Israel, but he paired his solidarity with a warning to Israelis to not be consumed by the rage they feel about the Hamas attacks. “After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States,” he said. “While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.” Biden did not elaborate, but he presumably was referring to the invasion of Iraq, which he voted for as a senator and later came to regret.
Jim Jordan lost a second bid for speaker
In the House vote today for speaker, Representative Jim Jordan, the Republican nominee for the role, could afford just four defections from within his party. In the end, 22 Republicans defected, dealing Jordan his second loss in two days. The failed vote highlighted just how challenging it would be for him to become speaker.
Several lawmakers are now discussing granting Representative Patrick McHenry, the temporary speaker, the power to carry out the chamber’s work until the deadlock is broken — which could take months.
Xi outlined his vision, with Putin by his side
China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, used a Beijing-led conference of leaders today to showcase his ambitions to reshape the global order. He cast China as an alternative to the leadership of the U.S. and touted its nearly $1 trillion effort to build infrastructure in developing countries.
Central to Xi’s vision is his relationship with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who played a prominent role at the event. The two leaders hailed each other as “dear” friends, took swipes at the U.S. and depicted themselves as building a “fairer, multipolar world.”
Texas wants to change its immigration strategy
Over the last year and a half, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has bused more than 50,000 newly arrived migrants to large Democratic cities whose leaders had pledged to provide sanctuary, helping to provoke a shelter crisis that has reshaped the debate over immigration.
Now Abbott is pursuing an even more audacious effort: He is pushing to change Texas law to make it a state crime to cross from Mexico without authorization — allowing Texas police to arrest migrants, including asylum seekers. Critics say it would violate the federal government’s authority over immigration, potentially setting up a Supreme Court challenge.
More top news
Economy: American wealth jumped by the largest amount on record between 2019 and 2022, as pandemic aid and rising stock and home prices boosted families’ finances.
2024: Mike Pence’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is facing financial problems, including running up a debt of $620,000.
Crime: Joran van der Sloot, the suspect in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance in Aruba, confessed to brutally attacking her and extorting her mother.
Espionage: Western intelligence chiefs vowed to do more to counter Chinese efforts to steal technology, which are increasingly trained on Silicon Valley.
Culture: The British Museum unveiled a $12-million project to plug holes in its records and its online catalog to prevent the theft of artifacts.
Broadway: Hillary Clinton is one of the producers backing “Suffs,” a new musical about the women’s suffrage movement.
TIME TO UNWIND
Expanding the art world’s view of art
The art canon has long been dominated by a white, male, European sensibility. But a number of museums around the U.S. this year are hosting exhibitions that aim to show how marginalized cultures have affected the West and its understanding of the world.
Similar efforts to expand the art world’s view can be found in Denver, where Indigenous communities revised an exhibit about the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, and in Boston, where an exhibition showcases the power of women in Renaissance Italy.
A first for blind actors
The Netflix adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “All the Light We Cannot See,” which begins streaming on Nov. 2, is breaking television convention. The production is the first time that blind lead characters in a major television show are being played by actors who are themselves blind.
There are very few working blind actors, so the producers held a global, open casting call, contacting schools and communities for the blind. The director eventually landed on Nell Sutton, whose only acting work was in a campaign for a British charity, and Aria Mia Loberti, a doctoral student at Penn State University who had no acting experience.
Dinner table topics
Bigfoot is back: Another potential sighting has captured the internet’s attention. Why does fascination with this mythical creature endure?
“The Exorcist” at 50: The vehement reaction to the film when it premiered helped create a special place for it in pop culture. We asked three critics for new perspectives.
Swifties abroad: U.S. fans are buying up seats for Taylor Swift’s international concerts, often finding that tickets, airfare and lodging combined cost less than the tickets alone in the U.S.
Breaths of fresh hair: Standout styles from fashion month had fiery orange shades and a just-out-of-the-shower slickness.
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
Cook: The best way to describe this tomato, rice and crispy cheese dish is pizza in rice form.
Watch: We updated our list of the best shows on Netflix right now.
Listen: Our music critic made a playlist of songs from albums she found at a record fair.
Visit: Malakoff Diggins is one of the five best state parks to visit in California.
Monitor: Strokes are more common among women. Here’s how to understand your risk.
Gather: Few games bridge generations as well as mahjong.
Frighten: Old dolls are a cheap and easy way to scare people for Halloween.
Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
ONE LAST THING
A new way to board the plane
United Airlines plans to speed up its boarding process beginning next week by having passengers with window seats board first, followed by people in middle seats and then those in aisle seats. By ditching the standard front-to-back method, United says it could save up to two minutes on each flight.
That might not sound like a lot, but if enough flights board quickly, the benefit could add up, said John Milne, an engineering professor. “Where they can really make money is if they save enough boarding time that they can actually have an extra flight during the day,” he said.
Have an efficient evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.