Joe Biden Israel visit LIVE: President vows to give $100m in military aid

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has arrived in Israel, as she shared to social media on Wednesday.

Hochul tweeted: "I've just touched down in Tel Aviv. New York and Israel share a special bond, and I'm proud to be here to show our solidarity with the Israeli people following Hamas's abhorrent acts of terror."

Hochul arrived in Israel just hours after Biden left.

She will meet with diplomatic leaders and those impacted by Hamas' attacks, according to CBS.

Hochul's visit comes as the NYPD announced on Wednesday that the city is in a "heightened threat environment" amid rising tensions due to the war in Israel.

President Biden is returning to the US after a brief visit to Israel on Wednesday.

Biden was expected to spend another day in the Middle East, but his summit in Jordan with leaders was cancelled.

Air Force One will make a brief refueling stop in Germany before returning to Joint Base Andrews.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Wednesday that they will allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Egypt.

The aid from Egypt can only be food, water, and medicine for civilians in Gaza's south and will be allowed as long as it does not get to Hamas, the statement said.

It is unclear when the aid would be able to enter the territory.

Biden said in his remarks on Wednesday that the US is working "to get trucks moving across the border as soon as possible."

The president also warned against Hamas stealing any aid sent across the border.

The National Security Council (NSC) has said their "current assessment" is that "Israel is not responsible for the explosion" at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.

NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said their statement is based on "analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information."

Biden also said in his remarks on Wednesday that the bombing was not carried out by Israel.

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President Biden said in his remarks on Wednesday that he is pushing Israeli leaders to facilitate an opening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Biden said he wants to enable humanitarian goods into the Palestinian territory.

He said: "Today I asked the Israeli cabinet to increase the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza."

President Biden visited Israel on Wednesday and gave remarks in Tel Aviv after meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden promised $100 million in new US funding for humanitarian assistance in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Good morning, I'm Isabelle Durso reporting from New York. I'll be taking over coverage of President Joe Biden's visit to Israel.

Tips or comments? Email isabelle.durso@reachplc.com

Joe Biden said the US Defense Department data he has seen led him to believe that Israel was not behind the explosion at al-Ahli Baptist Hospital which killed hundreds.

While visiting Israeli first responders, Biden was asked specifically what made him confident Israel didn't carry out the strike. 

He said is was "the data I was shown by my defense department".

Joe Biden has posted to social media in support of Israelis while he is on a diplomatic trip there. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has published a video showing the full meeting he held with US President Joe Biden earlier today. 

The Israel Defense Forces will do everything it can to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza, said Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference with US President Joe Biden. 

He said: "As we proceed during this war Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way. We have asked them and will continue to ask them to move to safer areas.

"We will continue to work with you to ensure that the minimal requirements are met."

Joe Biden branded Hamas worse than Islamic State for its killing of at least 1,400 Israelis during an October 7 terrorist attack. 

He called the attack a "slaughter" and said he Hamas committed evils and atrocities that make Isis somewhat more rational". 

A spokesperson for Hamas in Lebanon praised the decision to cancel a summit in Jordan between Arab governments and US President Joe Biden following a deadly hospital blast in Gaza.

Biden was supposed to meet with Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday in Amman in hopes of resolving the ongoing Gaza-Israel war.

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan called for an immediate cease-fire, a humanitarian corridor into the blockaded Gaza Strip and the continuation of mass regional protests that took place after Tuesday night’s blast at the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

He also called for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Israel to "rise up against the Zionist enemy and clash with it in all cities, villages, and camps."

Joe Biden has arrived in Israel for a high-stakes diplomatic trip under heavy security in a show of US support following a brutal terrorist attack by Hamas.

His visit comes just one day after a deadly explosion ripped through a Gaza hospital killing at least 500 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Both sides have blamed each other and the incident has derailed a meeting between Biden and Arab leaders about the conflict.

Ahead of the visit, the White House said that the American death toll from Hamas's October 7 attack had risen to 31 with 13 Americans still missing.

The US is planning to impose additional sanctions on senior Hamas leaders this week, officials said.

The President's visit will likely be a difficult one as he walks the line between US support for Israel and concern for Gaza's civilian population.

On Air Force One, Biden said: "The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy."

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said officials haven’t yet determined blame for the hospital bombing, calling the situation “very dynamic, literally changing by the hour” and adding that it “wouldn’t be appropriate for us to react to initial reports one way or the other.”

Biden will solely be visiting Israel after scrapping a visit to neighboring Jordan.

The cancellation means Biden won’t meet with the Jordanian king, Abbas or Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

But Kirby said he’d have an opportunity to speak to the leaders by phone as he returned to Washington. The quickly shifting events reflect an increasingly volatile situation that will test the limits of American influence in the region.

President Joe Biden has warned Israel that occupying the Gaza region would be a "mistake". His comments as Israeli forces prepare for a ground offensive on the besieged coastal enclave following Hamas' atrocities in Israel that left at least 1,300 Israelis dead.

However, Biden agreed that Hamas needs to be "eliminated" in order to pave the way to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

The 80-year-old Democrat added that a Palestinian authority would need to play a role in brokering this agreement while reaffirming his support for a two-state solution. 

"Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that, it would be a mistake to for Israel to occupy Gaza again. We are going in and taking out the extremists... is a necessary requirement," President Biden said during an hour-long interview with CBS. 

Shocking audio appears to expose Islamic Jihadists as the culprits behind the deadly missile strike on a Gaza City hospital on Monday that left at least 500 people dead. 

The conversation between Hamas operatives claims a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch was responsible for the massive blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on October 17, 2023.

The Hamas operative continues: "They are saying that the shrapnel from the missile is local shrapnel and not Israeli shrapnel."

The panic-stricken Hamas terrorist then says: "But god bless. It couldn't have found another place to explode?"

To which the first operative says: "Never mind, yes, they shot it from the cemetery behind the hospital."

The bombshell audio leak comes after Hamas militant group blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants. At least 500 people were killed, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.

President Joe Biden touched down in Israel on Wednesday for a diplomatic scramble to prevent the war with Hamas from spiraling into an even larger conflict, a challenge that became more difficult as outrage swept through the Middle East over an explosion that killed hundreds in a Gaza Strip hospital.

Since landing, Biden has declared he does not believe the bombing was carried out by Israel, saying: The US president also said “I’m deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.

"Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.

"But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we have to overcome a lot of things.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Biden at Ben Gurion Airport and they embraced before speeding away for hours of meetings, where the US president is expected to push for allowing critical humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

President Joe Biden said he wanted to "personally come" to Israel to make US support "clear". 

He said: "I want the people of Israel and the people of the world to know where the United States stands." 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Joe Biden for the US's "unequivocal support" for Israel during a press conference. 

He called it the support that "reflects the overwhelming will of the American people". 

Roughly 2,800 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities in Gaza said.

Hamas' leaders will “pay with their lives” once found after their militants killed over 1,000 innocent civilians in an unprecedented attack, an advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister has exclusively told Daily Express US.  

Joe Biden has landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel for a visit that aims to show US solidarity. 

Biden was originally scheduled to visit Jordan as well, but his meetings with Arab leaders were called off as he was leaving Washington, costing him an opportunity for the face-to-face conversations that he views as crucial for navigating this fraught moment.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility.

Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been pictured sharing a hug on the tarmac after the President landed in Israel to show US support.

Israel has released footage of a failed Hamas rocket launch that it claims killed hundreds of people sheltering in a hospital in Gaza. 

Palestinian officials said the blast killed at least 500 people. Israel has “categorically denied” any involvement and has instead blamed the strike on a failed rocket launch by Hamas terrorists.

Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was reportedly housing thousands when it was bombed on Tuesday. Many victims are believed to be unaccounted for under the rubble.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a video of what it says is the hospital before and after the blast.

The footage appears to show cars in the hospital parking lot before and after the blast and an example of a crater left by Israeli ordinance. No such crater is seen at the hospital. 

In an update posted to X, the IDF said: “A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed his "profound condolences" following a blast at a Gaza hospital that killed at least 500 people, according to authorities there. 

The explosion ripped through the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. Israel has blamed a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad for the blast while Hamas has blamed an Israeli airstrike. 

Blinken spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas late Tuesday to discuss "the continuing U.S. support for the Palestinian people" and the provision of humanitarian assistance, according to a state department spokesperson. 

Good morning from London. I'm Matthew Dooley and I'll be bringing you the latest updates as US President Joe Biden visits Israel during war time. 

Please feel free to reach out with comments, stories or tips. Your feedback is always welcome. 

Email: matthew.dooley@reachplc.com