{"id":2634,"date":"2023-10-18T09:32:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T09:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/business\/fallout-from-gaza-hospital-blast-looms-over-joe-bidens-israel-trip\/"},"modified":"2023-10-18T09:32:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T09:32:37","slug":"fallout-from-gaza-hospital-blast-looms-over-joe-bidens-israel-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634","title":{"rendered":"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from spreading across the region, temper its ally\u2019s response to the October 7 attacks and soothe fears in Arab capitals of a widening conflagration.<\/p>\n

It was a diplomatic mission fraught with risk, and potential reward. Biden\u2019s trip to Israel might associate him with a forthcoming ground invasion of Gaza, triggering more anger at the US.<\/p>\n

But at a summit with regional leaders in Amman, Jordan, he could assure Arab allies that the US remained committed to their security, too, and keep a broader regional peace push \u2014 a central ambition of the administration \u2014 intact.<\/p>\n

The US president\u2019s gambit was at risk of backfiring on Tuesday after an explosion at a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people and threatened to demolish Biden\u2019s delicate diplomatic mission before it had even begun.<\/p>\n

First came Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas\u2019s decision to pull out of the planned meeting with Biden. Then, just as Biden was departing for Tel Aviv on Air Force One, the White House announced that the entire second leg of his trip to meet King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt was cancelled.<\/p>\n

It marked a stunning turn for a president who was willing to gamble that his powers of negotiation and empathy could help calm a region that King Abdullah says is now \u201con the brink of falling into the abyss\u201d following Hamas\u2019s attacks on Israel of October 7 \u2014 and Israel\u2019s subsequent bombardment of Gaza.<\/p>\n

Just weeks ago, the White House was closing in on a grand bargain to normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The administration had also made progress with Iran, agreeing a prisoner swap that brought hopes of a further thawing in relations between Tehran and Washington. Now Biden is fighting to salvage any of that diplomatic progress.<\/p>\n

US officials did not offer any immediate attribution to the hospital explosion on Tuesday, but in Tel Aviv on Wednesday Biden backed the Israeli version of events, saying the blast appeared to have been perpetrated by \u201cthe other team\u201d. He added that he was \u201cdeeply saddened and outraged\u201d by the explosion.<\/p>\n

Officials in Gaza have blamed a strike by Israel, while Israeli authorities have rejected the claim and pinned it on a misfire by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.<\/p>\n

John Kirby, the co-ordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, said Biden planned to speak on the phone with Abbas and Sisi on the way back to Washington on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would always prefer face-to-face diplomacy, that\u2019s the president\u2019s stock-in-trade. But he also understands in the wake of the explosion at the hospital that it\u2019s not the appropriate thing to do, certainly for the leaders that are there, and he understands that,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n

The diplomatic fallout from the carnage in Gaza may only just be starting for Biden.<\/p>\n

Merissa Khurma, director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, said Biden\u2019s visit to Israel would now be read in many capitals in the region as the US \u201cokaying the killing of people\u201d in the hospital blast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be very hard to navigate for the US administration and almost impossible to balance,\u201d Khurma said. \u201cPeople in Ramallah, Amman and Tunis and elsewhere are already out in the street condemning Israel and calling for the killing of Palestinians to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

To pave the way for the visit, US secretary of state Antony Blinken held marathon talks with Israel\u2019s leader Benjamin Netanyahu, including about how to rush humanitarian aid into Gaza and how to create safe zones in the enclave ahead of any ground invasion by Israeli forces. The US also hoped to make progress in securing the release of American and other hostages held by Hamas and safe passage for foreign nationals out of Gaza into Egypt.<\/p>\n

The hospital explosion has shattered that planning, leaving Biden to manage a one-sided visit in Israel that risks increasing tensions in the region rather than easing them \u2014 and damaging the US\u2019s effort to project itself as an honest broker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe peril, of course, is a situation like this,\u201d said Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council\u2019s Middle East Program. \u201cIf in general Israel isn\u2019t amenable to American pressure to exercise restraint or bring the conflict to an end, it could harm US standing in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Images of Biden standing shoulder to shoulder with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, just a day after the hospital devastation in Gaza, will also confirm \u2014 for US audiences and Middle Eastern ones \u2014 that American support for Israel remains steadfast.<\/p>\n

Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said backing for Israel was \u201cimprinted in [Biden\u2019s] emotional DNA\u201d after a half-century of public service in Washington. This would allow the president to have \u201cthe tough conversations\u201d that were needed with Netanyahu on Israel\u2019s response to Hamas and its consequences.<\/p>\n

Kirby echoed that hope. Biden will be \u201casking some tough questions, but he\u2019ll be asking them as a friend\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n

The president had already started to inject some words of warning to Netanyahu in his public remarks in recent days, stressing the importance of respecting international law and warning him not to aim for an occupation of Gaza.<\/p>\n

But Middle East policy analysts said Biden also risked being too closely associated with any decision by Israel to launch a ground invasion of Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it occurs immediately after he leaves, it will appear that the US has blessed the operation,\u201d said David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a previous assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe US position has been that Israel has to do what Israel has to do to defend itself and to support that, but not get involved in the operational details,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That is also risky for Biden, even at home. The president has benefited politically from his strong embrace of Israel in the wake of the Hamas attacks. That could change as the conflict deepens or spreads, and as the civilian death toll from Israel\u2019s response rises.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiden is going to own the ground campaign, he probably already owns it,\u201d said Miller. \u201cBiden is entering a very complicated picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\nFallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip | inFundPros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip | inFundPros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"inFundPros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-wall.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Press Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Press Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Press Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff\"},\"headline\":\"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\"},\"wordCount\":1096,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\",\"name\":\"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip | inFundPros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fintech Advance\",\"description\":\"Latest Finance and Tech News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Fintech Advance\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png\",\"width\":409,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Fintech Advance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff\",\"name\":\"Press Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Press Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip | inFundPros","description":"US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip | inFundPros","og_description":"US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from","og_url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634","og_site_name":"inFundPros","article_published_time":"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-wall.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Press Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Press Room","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634"},"author":{"name":"Press Room","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff"},"headline":"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip","datePublished":"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634"},"wordCount":1096,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634","name":"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip | inFundPros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-18T09:32:37+00:00","description":"US president Joe Biden was betting that a whirlwind visit to the Middle East this week could help prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=2634#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fallout from Gaza hospital blast looms over Joe Biden\u2019s Israel trip"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/","name":"Fintech Advance","description":"Latest Finance and Tech News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization","name":"Fintech Advance","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png","width":409,"height":70,"caption":"Fintech Advance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff","name":"Press Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png","caption":"Press Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/infundpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}