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Civilised world must unite, Israel PM says as Joe Biden visits amid Hamas war
Joe Biden In Israel: The US president's visit comes after an explosion on a hospital in Gaza which claimed the lives of hundreds.
Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the civilised world must unite to defeat Hamas as US president Joe Biden arrived in Tel Aviv to show support to its Middle Eastern ally as Israel entered into the 12th day of war against Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu thanked visiting US President Joe Biden for his "unequivocal support" in the Gaza war and gave an updated death toll from the Hamas cross-border attack that triggered it.
"On October 7, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis, maybe more," Benjamin Netanyahu told Joe Biden in televised remarks as he called on countries to rally behind Israel as it wages what he described as a war "between the forces of civilisation and the forces of barbarism".
Read more: Joe Biden tells Israel's Netanyahu: Seems hospital strike 'done by other team'
The US president was received by PM Netanyahu and president Issac Herzog on the tarmac. The usual formalities for such a visit, such as a greeting by the full Israeli cabinet and religious leaders, were not observed.
The US president's visit comes after an explosion on a hospital in Gaza which claimed the lives of hundreds present in and near the premises.
The war that began October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,778 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded before the blast at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital hospital. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel.
