Biden, in Israel, Suggests Gaza Hospital Bombing Carried Out by 'Other Team'

Facts

• In what has been described as one of the most complicated diplomatic trips of his presidency, US Pres. Joe Biden arrived at an Israel in a state of war on Wednesday. Biden's trip marked his most forceful public showing of support for Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas left 1.4K people, mostly civilians—and dozens of Americans—dead.¹
• But the trip also comes amid a fierce Israeli response in the Gaza Strip, including a days-long aerial bombardment campaign that health authorities in Gaza say killed upwards of 2.8K people, with another 1.2K people said to be trapped under the rubble. Those figures predate a blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday, reportedly killing hundreds and triggering mass protests across the Islamic world.²
• In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said: 'I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at 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. But there's a lot of people out there who're not sure. So we have to overcome a lot of things.' Biden did not elaborate on what evidence he had seen, but a US official told CNN that the government hadn't yet drawn any conclusions as to who was responsible.¹
• While the question remains out on who struck the hospital, it would not be the first time Biden may have exaggerated the extent of evidence he had seen. Last week, Biden said he had personally seen photographic evidence of Hamas militants beheading children. Later, the White House walked the comments back, stating that Biden was referring to news reports; evidence of such nature has not been published in the press and allegations of beheadings are currently uncorroborated.³
• While attributing the hospital strike to Hamas, Biden did come to Israel with a message urging Tel Aviv to protect Palestinian civilians and advocating for a humanitarian corridor to Gaza.¹
• 'I’m confident that Israel is going to act under the measure…the rules of war,' Biden said in an interview before departing. 'There's standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And so, I’m confident that there’s gonna be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water.'⁴

Sources: ¹CNN (a), ²Associated Press, ³NBC and ⁴CNN (b).

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. This is one of the most complicated trips of Joe Biden's presidency. In a volatile region that's already been gripped by violence, Biden will have to avoid a wider war with Iran while pledging his support for Israel and simultaneously pushing for humanitarian aid in Gaza.
• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by The Times of Israel. As pointed out by Biden himself, the evidence — which Israel has and is willing to provide — is that the hospital was shelled by rockets fired by the terror group Islamic Jihad, not Israel Defense Forces.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Middle East Eye. After days of non-ending strikes on Gaza, that have left the hospitals full of people, Israel escalated its trend of wiping out civilians and struck a hospital facility. Now Tel Aviv wants to assert that Palestinians are responsible.

Predictions