Biden speaks from Israel after Gaza hospital blast kills hundreds: Live updates

President Biden has departed Israel for a refueling stop in Germany before returning to the United States.

Biden spent roughly seven hours in Israel meeting with government officials and community members before delivering remarks.

— Brett Samuels

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues Wednesday morning that newly released signal intelligence indicates that groups within Gaza were responsible for the devastating explosion that killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians at the Al Ahli Arab hospital.  

“As the president indicated — people should look at this — released signal intelligence confirms it appears that terrorist fighters within Gaza were responsible for the explosion and deaths, not the Israeli IDF,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.  

“It is clear that terrorists in Gaza have no regard for civilian human life. As I have said and as the Biden administration has made clear, civilian life must be protected,” he added.  

Palestinian militant group Hamas said the U.S. is complicit in the “massacres” of the Gaza people after adopting Israeli’s narrative “based on lies and false claims.”

Hamas is apparently referencing the deadly explosion of a Gaza hospital building this week.

President Biden, along with U.S. and Israeli officials, have said there is evidence a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket caused the explosion.

— Brad Dress

The Lebanese military group Hezbollah and Israeli forces are exchanging intense fire at the Lebanon-Israel border, a day after five Hezbollah fighters were killed.

Hezbollah claimed to have struck outposts in northern Israel on Wednesday with guided missile rockets, according to Lebanese media outlets.

Israeli forces said that troops “destroyed two military outposts in Lebanese territory” and were continuing “to strike terror targets.”

Hezbollah said on Tuesday that five of its fighters were killed, but it’s not clear how they may have died.

— Brad Dress

Global humanitarian group Oxfam on Wednesday warned that Gaza risks becoming a “breeding ground” for cholera and other diseases due to a lack of water and basic sanitation.

“There is no power, no food and now no water in Gaza. It risks becoming a breeding ground for cholera and other diseases. The situation for civilians is already intolerable. Our staff are telling us that in some cases, there are up to 70 people crammed into a single room. Humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza now,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s interim executive director, in a statement.

President Biden said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence confirms Israel’s claims that groups within Gaza were responsible for a hospital blast that killed hundreds on Tuesday.

“Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appears as a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” he told reporters after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking with Netanyahu earlier in the day, Biden said of the hospital explosion, “it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”

Biden announced an agreement to allow humanitarian aid to move from Egypt to Gaza and confirmed $100 billion in U.S. funding for assistance to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Biden, in remarks delivered in Tel Aviv, said he asked the Israeli Cabinet during a meeting to agree to the delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza “based on understanding that there will be inspections and aid should go to civilians, not to Hamas.”

Read more here.

— Brett Samuels

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have released audio and video to make the case that the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was behind the Tuesday hospital explosion that killed almost 500 people.

One video released by the IDF appears to show the site of a failed rocket launch that may have caused the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.

The IDF also released audio of two Hamas militants allegedly discussing how a misfired rocket launch from Islamic Jihad caused the hospital explosion.

— Brad Dress

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 471 people died in the al-Ahli Arab hospital explosion.

Another 314 people are injured, including 28 in critical condition, authorities said.

It’s not clear what caused the explosion of the hospital, located in Gaza where Israel is waging a war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Palestinian health officials said 3,487 people have been killed in the war so far and more than 12,000 are injured.

— Brad Dress

Biden said in prepared remarks he plans to ask Congress for “an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense” later this week.

The package is expected to also include funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia, as well as some domestic priorities like border security.

– Brett Samuels

President Biden delivered remarks in Tel Aviv after meeting with Israeli community members and survivors of the Hamas terrorist attacks.

“I come to Israel with a single message: You are not alone,” Biden said.

The president condemned the brutality of the Hamas attacks, describing the killing of children and of families ripped apart. He said he was working with allies in the region to free hostages taken by Hamas.

– Brett Samuels

The Biden administration announced new sanctions on Hamas on Wednesday targeting the militant group’s vast financial network as the U.S. backs Israel’s war against the militant organization in Gaza.

The sanctions target 10 members of Hamas as well as a Qatar-based financial facilitator with ties to Iran, a top Hamas commander and a cryptocurrency exchange based in Gaza.

Read the full story

President Biden is delivering comments in Tel Aviv on Wednesday after meetings with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, as much of the U.S. fears a wider war in the Middle East.

Watch the live video here.

Protests erupted outside the United States Embassy in Beirut Tuesday night after a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza Strip.

Reuters reported that hundreds of Lebanese protesters gathered outside the embassy, some waving Palestinian flags. Police reportedly used tear gas on demonstrators.

The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Wednesday issued a warning about future protests, advising citizens to “avoid demonstrations and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings or protests as some of these have turned violent.”

Seven progressive House Democrats are calling on President Biden to push for a ceasefire during his visit to Israel on Wednesday in an effort to protect civilians, a day after hundreds were killed in an explosion in a Gaza hospital.

The Democrats aid they support Israel in the conflict but want at least a temporary ceasefire in order to assist Palestinian civilians under siege in the 140-square mile territory.

Read the full story here.

– Nick Robertson

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that “time is OVER” after a deadly hospital explosion in Gaza killed hundreds of people.

“After the terrible crime of the Zionist regime in the bombing and massacre of more than a thousand innocent women and children in the hospital,” he wrote on X, “the time has come for the global unity of humanity against this fake regime more hated than ISIS and its killing machine.”

It’s not clear what caused the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, the coastal enclave under siege from Israeli forces. Both Israel and Palestinian group Hamas have traded blame.

Amirabdollahian has repeatedly warned that Iran, a backer of Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, may have to take action to stop the “genocide” of the Palestinian people.

— Brad Dress

President Biden met with Israeli community members and first responders in Tel Aviv, including survivors of the Hamas terrorist attacks that left more than 1,000 dead.

Biden hugged one young woman who told the president through a translator that she had saved people on her kibbutz during the attack.

“God love ya,” Biden told another survivor of the attacks. 

Biden, who frequently speaks about his own personal experience with grief, could be heard quietly recounting how he lost his wife and son in a car accident.

Another man thanked Biden for his support and called him a “friend of Israel.”

Among those Biden met with was Rachel Edri, a retired grandmother who was held hostage at gunpoint in her home for 20 hours by Hamas terrorists and served them food while stalling until they were captured.

– Brett Samuels

Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the decision of Arab leaders to cancel a meeting with President Biden.

“We appreciate the decision to cancel the summit that was scheduled today, with the American president who supports the occupation and is a partner in the brutal war of extermination against which our people are being subjected,” a statement on Telegram reads.

While on a trip to Israel this week, Biden was set to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The meeting was canceled after a deadly hospital explosion on Tuesday killed hundreds of people in Gaza. It’s not clear what caused the explosion.

— Brad Dress

President Biden told reporters he had seen data from the Pentagon to suggest Israel was not behind the explosion at a hospital in Gaza that left hundreds dead.

Biden earlier Wednesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it appeared it was “the other team” responsible for the explosion. The president was asked during a meeting with Israeli community members what made him sure that was the case.

“The data I was shown by my Defense Department,” Biden said.

– Brett Samuels

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said his country will not accept masses of Palestinian refugees from Gaza through its border on the Sinai Peninsula, rejecting efforts from Israel amid its ongoing war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

El-Sissi suggested Israel’s siege of Gaza and complete blockade on the territory is just an effort to force Egypt to accept Gazan refugees and prevent them from returning.

“We are rejecting the liquidation of the Palestinian cause and the explosion of Palestinians to Sinai,” the Egyptian president said, adding that Sinai would be turned into a launching ground for “terrorist attacks” against Israel, which would in turn blame Egypt for such attacks.

He instead proposed that Israel move the Palestinians to the Negev region in Israel until it ends its “announced mission” of destroying Hamas.

Read the full story here.

– Nick Robertson

The U.S. announced sanctions on Wednesday against a group of 10 Hamas members and the Palestinian militant organization’s financial network across Gaza, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar as it responds to the surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead or kidnapped.

Targeted for Wednesday’s sanctions action by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are members who manage a Hamas investment portfolio, a Qatar-based financial facilitator with close ties to the Iranian regime, a key Hamas commander and a Gaza-based virtual currency exchange.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. “is taking swift and decisive action to target Hamas’s financiers and facilitators following its brutal and unconscionable massacre of Israeli civilians, including children.”

“The U.S. Treasury has a long history of effectively disrupting terror finance and we will not hesitate to use our tools against Hamas,” she said.

– The Associated Press

In a travel advisory issued Tuesday, the State Department warned against travel to Lebanon due to “the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and [Hezbollah] or other armed militant factions.”

President Biden is expected to deliver remarks in Israel soon. Biden is currently meeting with Israel’s war cabinet.

His next meeting will be a community engagement event with first responders and families of victims, according to the White House travel pool report.

Israel claimed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad is responsible for a deadly hospital explosion in Gaza that left hundreds dead amid the ongoing war in the region.

“A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Read the full story here.

– Tara Suter

President Biden met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Cabinet officials in Tel Aviv, where he vowed ongoing U.S. support for Israel.

“I want you to know you’re not alone… we will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people,” Biden said.

“We will continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians,” he added.

Netanyahu condemned Hamas and described the road ahead as “long and hard” as Israeli forces prepare for an offensive against the terrorist group that controls Gaza.

“This will be a different kind of war because Hamas is a different kind of enemy,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel “will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harms way.” 

– Brett Samuels

Biden was slated to travel to Jordan after visiting Israel amid its war with Hamas.

A White House official said Tuesday the Jordan portion was canceled after consulting with King Abdullah II, whom the president was supposed to meet with, along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egypt and Jordan both border Israel.

Read the full story here.

– Alex Gangitano

Tensions spurred by the Israel-Hamas war are boiling over in the Republican presidential primary as the contenders issue responses to the escalating conflict. 

On Saturday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the U.S. should not take Palestinian refugees from Gaza because they “are all antisemitic.” Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley pushed back on DeSantis’s remarks, saying on CNN that “you can separate civilians from terrorists … but right now, we can never take our eyes off of the terrorists.” 

Read the full story here.

– Julia Manchester

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has asked people to “wait for the facts” about what caused the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.

Cleverly wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: “Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital. Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk. Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail.”

The U.K. government has not formally attributed blame for the blast, which Hamas said was caused by an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants caused the massive explosion.

Within hours after a blast was said to have killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank and at riot police in neighboring Jordan.

They were venting fury at their own leaders for failing to stop the carnage.

The leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority called off a planned Wednesday summit with President Biden.

Arab protesters gathered in several countries late Tuesday to condemn what they saw as an Israeli atrocity. It showed how the fighting in Gaza is spreading anger across the region, alarming U.S. allies and threatening wider unrest.

– The Associated Press

Read the full story here.