WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s already fraught trip to Israel and Jordan got more complicated after hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a strike on a Gaza hospital on Tuesday.
Palestinian authorities blamed Israel; Israeli authorities denied involvement in the strike, which occurred during a massive Israeli bombardment of the enclave.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly canceled a meeting with Biden after the strike, and international leaders condemned the bombing.
Biden is expected to leave Washington within hours.
There was no immediate indication that Biden planned to put off the trip, which is aimed largely at showing support for Israel. He was expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, then fly to Amman, to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Abbas.
Failure to meet with Abbas or any Palestinian official, while meeting Israelis on their soil, may undermine Biden’s other goals of calming tensions in the region and shoring up humanitarian efforts for Gaza.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Cynthia Osterman)
