Gaza hospital strike: Joe Biden gives clean chit to Israel; Arab leaders refuse to meet him

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, October 18

US President Joe Biden left Israel for the US after Arab leaders refused to meet him on his next stop in Jordan due to the missile strike on a Gaza hospital even as the death toll due to Israeli bombings, seen as an imminent prelude to a ground operation, kept on mounting.

• Editorial: Merciless in Gaza

At least 45 Palestinians were killed in a fresh Israeli airstrike in Jabalia, north of Gaza City, and six in an area south of Gaza Strip even as aid workers collected the remains of the over 300 dead in the missile strike on the Gaza hospital — the identity of whose perpetrator was hotly contested by the Israel-West combine and the Arabs.

Israel has agreed to allow aid into Gaza

The US President has said Israel has agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt with the understanding it would be subject to inspections.

Brazil’s ceasefire draft vetoed by US

The UAE has called for an emergency UNSC meet after Gaza hospital strike and US veto of Brazil’s proposed truce draft.

Meanwhile, expressing shock over the tragic loss of lives in the hospital attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict were a matter of serious concern and those involved should be held responsible.

All Palestinians are not Hamas

Let me make myself clear: The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. And Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.

We must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely and securely in dignity and in peace. — Joe Biden, US president

Civilian casualties matter of concern

Deeply shocked at the tragic loss of lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza…. Civilian casualties are a matter of serious and continuing concern. Those involved should be held responsible. — PM Modi on X

Biden before leaving Israel after Egypt and Jordan cancelled meetings with him in Jordan announced a $100 million aid package for Gaza and sided with Israel on the missile strike, stating that the hit was by the “other team”. The US also imposed sanctions on 10 Hamas group members.

The Hezbollah from Lebanon also fired rockets at three Israeli military installations and lost a fighter in the retaliatory artillery salvo. From Gaza also, rockets reportedly targeted three Israeli towns. Meanwhile, the UAE has called for an emergency meeting of the UNSC after Israeli bombardment of the hospital compound and Brazil’s proposed draft for a ceasefire was vetoed by the US.The Israeli assault led to Iran’s Foreign minister visiting Saudi Arabia to attend an emergency Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting while Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi expressed strong opposition to relocating Gaza residents to the Sinai Peninsula.

In a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Cairo, Sisi said “we reject the displacement of Palestinians”.

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