Biden tells Netanyahu: Gaza hospital explosion likely done by 'other team', not Israel
Tel Aviv, (PTI): US President Joe Biden Wednesday said that based on what he saw, it appears that the deadly explosion at the Gaza hospital was done by "the other team" and not the Israeli military, accepting the Israeli version that a "misfired" rocket by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was responsible for the tragedy.
Biden said that he asked "tough questions" during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also said that he supports a two-state solution so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely and securely in peace and announced USD 100 million for humanitarian aid in the war-torn Gaza and the West Bank.
"I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. Based on what I've seen, it appears it was done by the other team, and not you," he told Netanyahu, publicly endorsing Israeli contention.
He added that there were "a lot of people out there" who weren't sure what caused the explosion at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the centre of Gaza.
Later in a post on X, Biden, who is here on a solidarity visit to express support for Israel amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas-led Palestinian factions, said he was "proud to be in Israel to honour the courage, commitment, and bravery of the Israeli people. Americans are grieving with you following last week's terror attacks."
Biden said he spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the situation on the ground, security assistance and humanitarian needs, and information on unaccounted Americans. "I asked tough questions as a friend of Israel. We will continue to deter any actor wanting to widen this conflict," he said in another post.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has said that 471 people were killed and 314 others injured in the hospital blast for which Hamas and Israel traded charges holding each other responsible for the incident. Israel has blamed a misfired rocket from the Islamic Jihad, a claim rejected by the militant group.
When asked what made him confident Israelis weren't behind the hospital blast in Gaza City, Biden said he cited "the data I was shown by my defense department," CNN reported.
Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that a current intelligence assessment, based on analysis of "overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information", shows Israel was "not responsible" for the hospital blast.
Biden earlier said that he had directed his national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened at the hospital.
The hospital explosion derailed the diplomatic efforts as a summit between President Biden and Arab leaders in Jordan's Amman was cancelled.
During the meeting, Biden told Netanyahu that he is "here for a simple reason I want the people of Israel and the people of the world to know where the US stands".
Biden stressed that Hamas "slaughtered" its victims, including 33 Americans.
"They have committed evils and atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational," he said, adding that "Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering".
Extending unflinching support for Israel, the American leader said that Washington will make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself.
"The world is looking," he said, asserting that "Israel has a value set like the US does and other democracies, and they're looking to see what we're going to do".
He also lauded the courage and commitment of the Israelis calling it "stunning."
Netanyahu thanked Biden for coming to Israel and for his unequivocal support, a "support that reflects the overwhelming will of the American people."
He said that Hamas' crimes included rape, burning, kidnapping, and targeting small children. The death toll in the brutal attack could be above 1400, the premier said.
Netanyahu said Hamas kidnapped women and children, elderly, Holocaust survivors. "I know you share our outrage on this. And I know you share our determination to bring these people back....On October 7, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis, maybe more", the premier said.
"This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That's 20 times 9/11s. That is why October 7 is another day that will live in infamy," Netanyahu emphasised.
"Just as the civilized world united to defeat the Nazis, and united to defeat ISIS, the civilized world must unite to defeat Hamas," Netanyahu pleaded, stressing that Israel is united and Israel will defeat Hamas.
They also discussed the hostage situation as the US continues to work to get these hostages out, the White House said, adding that President Biden's top priority is the safe return of American hostages.
The Israeli leader expressed appreciation for America's commitment to Israel's security which he said was "truly unprecedented".
Pointing to the fact that Biden is the first ever US president to visit Israel in a time of war, Netanyahu called it "deeply, deeply moving."
"It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to Israel. It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to the future of the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state," he noted.
After meeting with President Biden, Netanyahu agreed to allow the shipment of humanitarian assistance from Egypt to Gaza.
Biden also met with first responders and the families of victims of Hamas' attack on Israel before leaving the country in the evening.
Since the start of hostilities on October 7, as many as 3,478 Palestinians have been killed and 12,065 others injured, according to a spokesman of the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
