US will make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself, says Biden

 


President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, October 18, 2023

Oct 18, 2023. Posted by  Balkan Periscope - Hellas

 

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Washington would provide Israel with everything it needed to defend itself as it wages war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

 

Biden, who landed in Israel and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu early on Wednesday, said Hamas was worse than the Islamic State group for its killings of Israeli civilians in a surprise attack on October 7 which sparked the latest Israel-Palestinian violence.Follow our live blog for all the latest developments. 

Biden arrives on solidarity visit to Israel

US President Joe Biden landed in Israel Wednesday on a solidarity visit following Hamas attacks, under the shadow of a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital that has inflamed regional tensions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally welcomed Biden on the tarmac, putting his arms around the US president who then clasped his hands around Netanyahu in a sign of the newfound bond between the two leaders.

Under unusually tight security even for the US president, Biden and Netanyahu chatted briefly on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport surrounded by their guards before their motorcades set off for a Tel Aviv hotel where they will hold talks.

Hundreds of armed police and troops were stationed around the seafront Tel Aviv hotel where Netanyahu and Biden will meet, with armed snipers on the roofs of nearby villas.

 

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital appears to not have been caused by Israel. 

“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting. But Biden said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren't sure what caused the blast. 

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility.

 

Agencies