TEL AVIV: US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel commenced with an expression of support for Israel, which continued bombing civilian population, and government buildings, including hospitals, schools, and refugee conveys in the Gaza Strip for the past 12 days to push Palestinians for forced displacement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog warmly welcomed US President Joe Biden at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday. Upon his arrival in Israel, Joe Biden pledged solidarity with the country and attributed the hospital bombing in Gaza yesterday, which resulted in the deaths of more than 500 innocent Palestinians, to Hamas.
Palestinian authorities clearly attributed the blast to an Israeli airstrike. Jordan has canceled a summit originally planned for the visit, as Arab leaders called off their scheduled meeting with the US President in light of the hospital tragedy.
Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said the explosion at the hospital in Gaza appears as it was done by the other side, not you.
Netanyahu expressed gratitude to Biden for his “unwavering support.” President Isaac Herzog’s office stated that the head of state had told Biden, “God bless you for protecting the nation of Israel.”
“HELP US, HELP US!”
The harrowing scenes at the hospital surpassed the distressing imagery of the past 12 days, which has inundated the world with a relentless stream of pictures depicting Israelis tragically killed in their homes and Palestinian families buried under the rubble left by Israel’s airstrikes.
Rescue teams diligently scoured the blood-stained debris, desperately searching for survivors. The Gaza civil defense chief reported a death toll of 300, while sources from the health ministry suggested the number could be as high as 500. Israel contested these figures. Palestinian ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra explained that rescuers were still painstakingly recovering bodies.
Dr. Fadel Naim, the head of the hospital’s Orthopedic Surgery Department, vividly recounted the frantic scene: “People rushed into the surgery department, screaming, ‘Help us, help us, there are people killed and wounded inside the hospital!'” He further described the hospital as a place filled with the dead, the wounded, dismembered bodies, and lifeless forms. Despite their best efforts, the hospital team was overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties. “We saw them alive, but we couldn’t help them, and they became martyrs,” Dr. Naim sadly remarked.
