The US announces Joe Biden’s trip to Israel as a sign of support
The tragic explosion at Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza, killing hundreds, changed Joe Biden’s route and canceled his trip to the Middle East, which will be limited to Israel. The American president’s meeting with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority was canceled at the initiative of King Abdullah himself shortly after the attack on the hospital.
The American president arrives in Tel Aviv this Wednesday, at the most critical moment of the Israeli offensive in Gaza and while the Arab world is in turmoil. US allies in the region blame Israel for the hospital explosion. Israel Defense Forces, in turn, denied responsibility, claiming they were not bombing hospitals and blaming Islamic Jihad.
The bombed hospital, better known as AlMa’madani, is located in the southern part of Gaza City and is crucial to Palestinians. It housed civilians displaced by Israeli bombing.
The fact is that the panorama of the visit has changed drastically. Biden is under pressure to try, at best, to reach a temporary ceasefire and open a humanitarian corridor into Palestinian territory to allow aid to enter.
President Biden’s visit is risky in every way. He will try to balance unwavering support for the Middle East’s biggest ally, the victim of an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas, and trying to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to guarantee a humanitarian corridor that will stop civilian deaths Palestinian territory. The American president emphasizes Israel’s right to defend itself and destroy Hamas’s military capacity. But it avoids issuing permits that harm Gaza’s civilian population.
The list of priority challenges for Biden is immense. The US is trying to prevent Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas from spilling over to other fronts: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iran. Two American aircraft carriers have been sent to the Mediterranean and two thousand troops are on standby to repel attacks against Israel.
Another White House concern is the unknown number of American hostages among the 200 held by Hamas in Gaza. The US lost 30 citizens in the Hamas attack on Israel. Hundreds of Americans are trying to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, where the group of Brazilians coordinated by Itamaraty is also located. The territory’s southern border is closed by Egypt, which fears the influx of Palestinians into Sinai.
The American president sent two of his most important secretaries to Israel the foreign minister and the defense minister. In a marathon tour of seven allied countries in the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken tried unsuccessfully to drum up regional support for Israel, resulting in condemnation of the Hamas terror attack. The Gaza hospital explosion hurt his chances.
The barbarism promoted by Hamas on Israeli soil has managed to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from Biden’s fridge, where the prime minister has been held since the start of a farright coalition, fragmenting Israeli society. The terrorist attack on the 7th eased tensions between the two and marked Biden’s tenth visit to Israel.
1 of 1 A Palestinian child cries while waiting for treatment on the floor of AlShifa Hospital, after an attack that left hundreds dead at AlAhly Hospital in Gaza City this Tuesday (17) Photo : Abed Khaled/AP Palestinian child cries while waiting for treatment on the floor of AlShifa Hospital, after an attack that left hundreds dead at AlAhly Hospital in Gaza City this Tuesday (17) Photo : Abed Khaled/AP