Biden's Israel visit focuses on Netanyahu after Arab summit cancelled
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden left Washington Tuesday evening on a whirlwind trip that was originally expected to touch down in Israel for an update on Israel's war aims in its battle with Hamas militants, and then Jordan, to stress the need to get humanitarian assistance to Gaza civilians.
A strike on a Gaza hospital late on Tuesday that killed hundreds of Palestinians saw Arab leaders call off their planned summit with Biden in Jordan however, and that leg of the trip cancelled.
MEETING WITH ISRAEL'S NETANYAHU BUT NOT ARAB LEADERS
Biden is spending part of Wednesday in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials as Israel prepares a ground offensive aimed at eliminating Hamas militants in Gaza who killed 1,300 people during a rampage through southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7.
Biden will no longer fly to Amman for talks about humanitarian assistance after Jordan's King Abdullah cancelled a summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas, who has long been opposed to Hamas and whose organization exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said after the Gaza hospital strike he would not meet the U.S. President.
Palestinian authorities say Israel is responsible for the strike, Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame. Biden backed Israel's account.
HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS IN GAZA
Biden's second trip to a war zone this year — he visited Ukraine in February — carries some risk. His goal was originally to show American solidarity with Netanyahu while trying to avoid a broader regional war involving
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