United States President, Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Israel Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
Biden’s visit comes after hundreds of people believed to have been killed following a strike on a hospital in Gaza.
Palestinian officials blamed ongoing Israeli airstrikes for the lethal incident, while a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is responsible for a “failed rocket launch” that hit the hospital.
President Biden’s trip is meant to demonstrate staunch support for the country while also pressing for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza, where water and food supplies are dwindling for hundreds of thousands of displace people.
US officials had said they had made painstaking efforts to ensure Biden’s security before greenlighting the trip. Biden was also set to emphasize to his Israeli counterpart and others the importance of minimizing civilian casualties in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has canceled his planned meeting with Biden in the wake of the strike.
At least 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since last Saturday, according to the Palestinian health officials.
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people.