President Joe Biden has supported Israel’s claim of not being responsible for bombing of a Gaza hospital. Israel said the attack was from Hamas terrorist.
Meanwhile, protests erupted in the Middle East in the wake of a deadly hospital blast in Gaza that reportedly left hundreds dead.
In Jordan, protestors attempted to storm the Israeli embassy. In Cairo, a small group of protestors were spotted near the United Kingdom and United States embassies, pushing for the country to break off ties with Israel.
THE HILL also reported that protests and fighting erupted between the militant group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, and Israel along its border.
Thousands demonstrated in Greece’s capital Athens on the Israel-Hamas war including the country’s first small pro-Israel public gathering since the start of the conflict.
Police said some 10,000 people responded to a call by Communist-affiliated labour unions in solidarity with the Palestinian people, one of several held this month.
All of this comes as a backdrop to President Biden’s visit to Israel to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials on Wednesday.
The recent hospital blast is of disputed origin, with Israel blaming Palestinian militants and Hamas blaming an Israeli air strike. Biden however seems to side with Israel’s version.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Biden on Wednesday said he had spoken with the Israeli cabinet “to agree to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance of civilians in Gaza, based on the understanding that there will be inspections and the aid will go to civilians and not to Hamas.”
The president further cautioned Israel not to repeat the rage-fuelled “mistakes” made by the US in the wake of 9/11 as it responds to Hamas’ attack.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullah Shawesh, on Wednesday, called on world leaders to compel Israel to respect international humanitarian and human rights law.
Shawesh, who spoke during a press briefing in Abuja, said, “International law must be respected, especially international humanitarian law and human rights law. There should be no exception or impunity for Israel, and it should not be above the law.
“It is time for the international community to stand firm and united in support of international law. Everyone around the world should raise their voice loudly at this historical juncture.
“If not you, then who? If not now, when?”
Shawesh also lampooned Western leaders for reneging on their promises to protect his people.
He said, “All the talk of Western leaders about protecting Palestinian civilians is empty talk, lip service, and no more than throwing ash in the eyes.
“The double standards, the hypocrisy, and the full support and sponsorship of many Western countries encourage Israel to implement its old plans of expelling the Palestinian people from Gaza to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula in a clear attempt to repeat the ethnic cleansing that the Palestinians were subjected to in 1948.”
Bomb threats
The embassies of Israel and the United States in Argentina were the targets of bomb threats on Wednesday, according to police sources.
The Israeli embassy in the historic centre of the capital, near the presidency, was evacuated amid heavy police presence, AFP reporters witnessed.
Police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the embassy had received a threat via email to its diplomatic office.
A threat was also received by the US embassy in the upscale Palermo suburb, where an AFP reporter saw employees gathered outside until police allowed them to return.
US vetoes ceasefire vote
In another development, the US on Wednesday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have called for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza.
While 12 of the Council’s 15 members voted in favour of the Brazilian-led text, one (United States) voted against, and two (Russia, and the United Kingdom) abstained.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said “the time for diplomatic metaphors is long gone.” Anyone who did not support Russia’s draft resolution on this issue bears responsibility for what happens, he said. The current draft “has no clear call for a ceasefire” and “will not help to stop the bloodshed.”
But US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield explained her country’s veto in the Council chamber saying “this resolution did not mention Israel’s right of self-defence.”
“Israel has the inherent right of self-defence as reflected in Article 51 of the UN Charter,” she added, noting that the right was reaffirmed by the Council in previous resolutions on terrorist attacks, “this resolution should have done the same.”
The resolution received five votes in favour (China, Gabon, Mozambique, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates) and four against (France, Japan, the UK, and the US), with six abstentions (Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Malta, and Switzerland).
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