JERUSALEM – President Joe Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday, after a catastrophic blast on a Christian hospital in the Gaza Strip to reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Israel’s security and as the U.S. continues to press Israel to agree to humanitarian relief corridors.
The deadly blast at the Al Ahili Arab Hospital, which killed hundreds of people, sparked immediate protests across the Middle East, strong condemnation of Israel by Arab governments and marked a dramatic escalation in the violence gripping the region since a deadly Hamas attack against Israeli towns nearly two weeks ago.
Israel blamed the militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad group for the strike, saying it was a misfired rocket that hit the hospital. Hamas and the PIJ said it was an Israeli airstrike that struck families as they were sleeping in the confines of the hospital’s grounds.
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