In the wake of a deadly hospital blast in Gaza that reportedly left hundreds dead Tuesday, protests erupted across the Middle East.
In Jordan, protestors attempted to storm the Israeli embassy. In Cairo, a small group of protestors were spotted near the U.K. and U.S. embassies — pushing for the country to break off ties with Israel. Protests and fighting also erupted between along the border between Lebanon and Israel.
All of this comes as a backdrop to President Biden’s visit to Israel to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israel officials Wednesday.
The recent hospital blast is of disputed origin, with Israel blaming Palestinian militants and Hamas blaming an Israeli airstrike. Biden appeared to side with Israel’s version of events Wednesday.
“The point is … that I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Netanyahu. “But, there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got a lot — we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.”
The president was supposed to meet with the leaders of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt in Jordan while traveling in the Middle East, but the meeting was called off after the hospital explosion.
While in Israel, Biden heavily criticized the actions of Hamas, as he has done multiple times in the wake of its surprise attack on Israel a little more than a week ago.
“They have committed atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational,” Biden said.
The Associated Press contributed.