U.S. President Joe Biden touched down in Tel Aviv on Wednesday as part of a "solidarity" visit amid growing regional discontent over Israel's indiscriminate attacks pushing the Gaza Strip to the brink of collapse.
Biden is set for a diplomatic scramble to prevent Israel's war against Palestinians from spiraling into an even larger conflict, a challenge that became more difficult as outrage swept through the Middle East after an Israeli strike killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital.
Biden was originally scheduled to visit Jordan as well, but his meetings with Arab leaders were called off as he was leaving Washington, costing him an opportunity for the face-to-face conversations that he views as crucial for navigating this fraught moment.
Now Biden's only stop is Tel Aviv, where he's expected to push for allowing critical humanitarian aid into Gaza during meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has carried out indiscriminate air attacks on Gaza that have killed over 3,000 people and has been preparing for a potential ground invasion in response to a surprise incursion by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.
John Kirby, a White House national security spokesperson, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Biden "wants to get a sense from the Israelis on the situation on the ground" and will "ask some tough questions."
"He'll be asking them as a friend," Kirby added.
Biden also planned to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims killed and hostages taken when Hamas made its incursion into Israel.
Roughly 2,800 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
Those numbers predate the airstrike at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on Tuesday. The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli strike caused the destruction.
The Israeli military, on the other hand, blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another resistance group. However, that organization rejected any responsibility.
Biden said in a statement that he was "outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted." He also said he "directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened."
Protests swept through the region after the deaths at the hospital, which had been treating wounded Palestinians and sheltering many more who were seeking refuge from the bombardment.
Hundreds of Palestinians flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah. More people joined protests that erupted in Beirut, Lebanon and Amman, Jordan, where an angry crowd gathered outside the Israeli Embassy.
Outrage over the hospital explosion scuttled Biden's plans to visit Jordan, where King Abdullah II had planned to host meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. But Abbas withdrew in protest, and the summit was subsequently canceled outright.
Kirby said Jordan had declared three days of mourning after the hospital explosion and that Biden understood the move and was part of a "mutual" decision to call off the Jordan portion of his trip. He said Biden would have an opportunity to speak to the Arab leaders by phone as he returned to Washington.
Ayman Safadi, Jordan's foreign minister, told a state-run television network that the war is "pushing the region to the brink."
