Biden is arriving in Israel as Gaza reels from a deadly hospital explosion
The State of the House of Representatives and Rep. J. Jordan, D-Ohio, During the Oct. 7 Cross-border Attacks
Good morning. The newsletter you’re reading has something for you. You can subscribe to the Up First show, which will give you all the news you need to start your day.
On Monday, the president’s top advisers debated among themselves for the better part of a day about the concerns surrounding a trip to Israel, which has launched daily airstrikes in retaliation for the Oct. 7 cross-border attacks. Mr. Biden ultimately decided to go, advisers said, because he wanted to support Israel and call for humanitarian aid to people trapped in Gaza. They also said he believed an in-person visit could help him better understand Israel’s strategy as a ground invasion of Gaza loomed.
The House of Representatives is set to vote on a new speaker later today. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is the nominee after Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., dropped out. It’s unclear whether he has enough votes to get the job.
The Red 3 Campaign – Focusing on the Effects of Artificial Intelligence on the Diagnosis of Childhood Dysensitism. A Countertenor in Gaza: Where is the Air Force One?
The FDA is looking at the Red 3 petition, filed by consumer advocacy groups a year ago, and is active in reviewing it. The dye’s use is in the spotlight after California banned it and three other food enhancers.
Manoush Zomorodi is the host of the TED Radio Hour and he is looking at the relationship between our technology and our bodies.
Myopia (nearsightedness) rates in the U.S. have soared in the last 50 years. Many diagnosed are kids. Increased time spent indoors and often looking at screens may be to blame for bad eyesight that used to be attributed to genetics.
A countertenor from Poland thinks he may be the only breakdancing opera singer in the world. As a teenage extreme sports enthusiast, he found “purity and spirituality” in opera and “music and personal expression” in breakdancing.
The director of counterterrorism said that the timing and appearance of the visit couldn’t be worse. The circumstances behind the strike at the hospital in Gaza are unimportant at this point. The tensions are much more intense than they have been over the last week.
Eventually, Air Force One departed, carrying an American president bound for Tel Aviv at a moment when Gaza was facing a humanitarian catastrophe and anger was reverberating across the Middle East.
A meeting with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority was supposed to be held in Jordan, but was put on hold because of the hospital strike.
The only way for Palestinians to leave Gaza is through the Rafah crossing. Food, water, and medicine are all extremely scarce in the Gaza Strip and have worsened in the last week. Hospitals are running out of electricity and are struggling to treat the thousands of injured, many of whom are children.
The team of Biden has been pressing Israel and Egypt to allow civilians and food and water into Gaza. On the way to Tel Aviv, Kirby expressed some optimism that could happen soon.
The survivors and relatives of the Israeli victims of the Hamas attacks told the president their stories as he walked around a hotel conference room. He gave each of them a hug and talked about his own experiences with loss.
Biden is expected to ask Congress for funding for more military assistance to Israel, at the same time he has pledged his support for Israel in the war against Hamas.
“He’ll be asking some tough questions – he’ll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel but he’ll be asking some questions of them,” Kirby told reporters on the eve of Biden’s visit.
Asked whether the United States was giving Israel the benefit of the doubt on that denial, Kirby said: “We certainly recognize that they feel very strongly that this was not caused by them.” Kirby said that Biden directed his national security team to get more information.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke after the hospital explosion. John Kirby of the National Security Council stated that Israel had categorically and stridently denied responsibility.
Abbas cancelled his meeting with Biden, and called for three days of mourning. Biden said he would postpone the visit after he talked to King Abdullah.
The Hamas Invasion of Israel: The First Air-Raiding Siren of the New War in Israel? Thousands of Palestinians and Israelis cries in horror
This latest round of violence erupted when militants from the Gaza Strip infiltrated Israel, killing more than 1,300 people inside Israel. At least 200 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip. Entire towns in the south were destroyed.
Biden visited war zones before, including a trip to Ukraine. That travel wasn’t revealed until the president was on the ground in Kyiv.
The leader of the government has been Mr. Netanyahu for 14 years. The Shin Bet head and the commander of military intelligence have publicly taken responsibility for their actions, but the Prime Minister has refused to do so. But if the army and country were unprepared for the Hamas invasion — as they clearly were —- there is no place else for the buck to stop.
How could this happen? We asked one another what we could do to make the stairwell in our apartment building safer, and our neighbors were not quite sure what to make of it. Our first air-raid siren of the new war had just sounded. It was early on a holiday morning; I’d heard no news. A man told us about the Hamas invasion of Israel as he spoke in a loud voice.
The hospital strike in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon caused protests to erupt. Protesters in the West Bank chanted slogans against Israel and the authority of the PA as police tried to break them up.
The Israeli “barbaric terrorists” that attacked the Baptist Al–Ahli hospital: Israeli repercussions and human rights violations
An internal review showed the rocket was a mistake, according to Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli army.
“We don’t see a direct hit at the hospital, we see kind of a hit in the parking lot but we’re still finishing the investigation of that,” he said, before adding that Israel continues to gather intel, including off Al-Jazeera live footage and other sources.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under intense domestic pressure to respond forcefully to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, said in a statement that it was the “barbaric terrorists in Gaza” that attacked the Baptist Al-Ahli hospital.
The White House said that the president will be consulting with these leaders soon, and will also remain directly engaged with them over the next few days.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. The fate of the entire region hangs in the balance, according to him.
Saudi Arabia, which had been in serious talks to normalize relations with Israel just weeks ago, also slammed Israel, saying it “condemns in the strongest terms the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces.”
Hamas is still launching missiles at Israel. The Iron Dome defense system in Israel intercepts the most. Air raid sirens are frequently heard in cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Footage online and carried on channels like Al-Jazeera show the carnage of dead bodies strewn on the grass outside the hospital. Bloodied and traumatized women and children were show being treated in other nearby hospitals, screaming, shaking or still in shock. Medications have run low in Gaza at the two dozen or so still functioning hospitals, where medical supplies like painkillers have run out.
Israel told half of Gaza’s population to leave their homes. Areas across Gaza are being hit by Israeli airstrikes.
A senior Health Ministry official in Gaza, Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Reesh, gave a press conference after the hospital strike. He stood in front of a group of dead children.
Dr. Fadel Naim, a doctor at the Baptist Al-Ahli hospital, told NPR that doctors were operating on patients when they heard a loud explosion. He saw dead and wounded people while running outside.
“We found one baby on the roof of the hospital,” he said, describing the horrific scene and impact of the explosion. Many babies died yesterday. Many babies.
Israeli President Biden: “Shock, Pain, rage,” not “all-consuming rage” — a warning to not let “overpowering anger” drive America to go too far
Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, told CNN in an interview that Israel has bombed the crossing multiple times in the last few days, including as Egyptian workers were repairing damage from one of the strikes.
A U.N. shelter where thousands of Palestinians were seeking refuge was also struck by Israel on Tuesday, killing six people, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
The U.N. relief agency, OCHA, says Gaza has been under full electricity blackout and that its largest hospital only has a few more days of fuel for its generators after the World Health Organization delivered locally stored fuel to it.
The U.N. agency also said that every person in Gaza is estimated to have less than a gallon of water for all their needs per day, including for drinking, hygiene and cooking. Water and Sanitation facilities have been badly damaged.
“People have resorted to consuming brackish water extracted from agricultural wells, increasing exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, placing the population at risk of death or infectious disease outbreak,” the U.N. relief agency said.
In a way, Mr. Biden flew to Israel on Wednesday to give the whole country a hug, to say how much America grieves with Israel and stands by Israel and has Israel’s back. But with the hug came a whisper in the ear as well, a gentle warning not to give into the “primal feeling,” not to let overwhelming grief or overpowering anger drive the country to go too far as he believes America did after Sept. 11, 2001.
In a speech to the Israeli nation, Mr. Biden said, “Shock, pain, rage — an all-consuming rage.” “I understand and many Americans understand. You can’t look at what has happened here to your mothers, your fathers, your grandparents, sons, daughters, children, even babies and not scream out for justice. Justice needs to be done. But I caution this — while you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.”
