President Joe Biden is no longer scheduled to travel to Jordan on Wednesday after he visits Israel, a senior administration official said.
Biden, who departed for Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, had planned to meet with Arab leaders in Amman after visiting Israel in a show of support for the U.S. ally amid its war with Hamas.
“After consulting with King Abdullah II of Jordan and in light of the days of mourning announced by President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, President Biden will postpone his travel to Jordan and the planned meeting with these two leaders and President Sisi of Egypt,” a White House official said.
Biden sent his deepest condolences for “the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded,” the official said, adding that the president will consult in person with these leaders soon and will “remain regularly and directly engaged with each of them over the coming days.”
A Jordanian official told NBC News that all parties agreed to the cancellation, saying that the summit would not achieve any goals under the current circumstances.
Jordan on Tuesday morning had announced that King Abdullah would host a four-way summit in Amman the following day, with Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the situation in Gaza.
An attack on al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, a Christian-run medical complex in central Gaza City, killed 200 to 300 people on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry’s spokesman, Ashraf Al Qudra, said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had targeted the hospital for bombing. The terrorist group Hamas, which was responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, also blamed Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Israel was responsible, saying, “It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
