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Joe Biden clarifies ‘other team’ comment on Gaza hospital blast: Based on data
Israel-Hamas War: Earlier Joe Biden told Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the hospital strike on Gaza seems to have been ‘done by other team’.
US president Joe Biden said that his comment that the "other team," not Israel, was responsible for the explosion at a Gaza hospital was based on data shown to him by the US Department of Defense. Earlier Joe Biden told Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the hospital strike on Gaza seems to have been ‘done by other team’, in reference to Palestinian militants. He said he was "sad and outraged" by the explosion in the Gaza Strip which Hamas said killed hundreds of people.
“Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Joe Biden told Benjamin Netanyahu. But he said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren't sure what caused the blast.
Read more: Joe Biden tells Israel's Netanyahu: Seems hospital strike 'done by other team'
Hamas is worse than Islamic State for its killings of Israeli civilians in a surprise attack on October 7, the US leader said, expressing anguish over the death of 31 Americans who were among the more than 1,300 Israelis killed in Hamas' attack.
"We have to bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and has brought them only suffering," Joe Biden said.
“I wanted to be here today for a simple reason: I want the people of Israel and the people of the world to know where the United States stands.... I wanted to personally come and make that clear,” he asserted, adding, “They have committed evils and atrocities that make ISIS look somewhat more rational. Americans are grieving with you, they really are. Americans are worried... because they know this is not an easy field to navigate what you have to do. Israel, as they respond to these attacks, it seems to me that you have to continue to ensure that you have what you need to defend yourselves. And we're going to make sure that occurs.”
Israel said that its radar as well as independent video showed a rocket in a barrage fired by Palestinian militants misfired and caused the large explosion. It said there was no crater, which would have been present with an airstrike, and it released a recording it said was between two Hamas militants who said the blast was believed to be an Islamic Jihad misfire. Islamic Jihad dismissed Israel’s claims, pointing to Israel’s order that the hospital be evacuated in recent days.
