A planned summit with President Joe Biden, Jordan's King Abdullah, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was called off Tuesday in the wake of an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip that reportedly killed hundreds. Israel and Hamas are each blaming each other for the carnage as the war between the two heats up after Hamas' October 7 surprise attacks on the Jewish nation that killed an estimated 1,400.
As RedState's Jeff Charles reported, Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas dropped out of the planned conference earlier Tuesday. The White House revealed the news of the cancellation of the entire summit:
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.
Some outlets are reporting that the decision was mutual:
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.
However, there are other reports that Jordan canceled the event on its own:
Jordan has canceled a meeting slated for Wednesday with President Biden and other regional leaders in protest over an airstrike that hit a hospital in Gaza and reportedly killed hundreds of people...
Later, Jordan’s foreign minister told state-run television that his country had canceled the summit, saying that the war between Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink.” He said the meeting would be postponed.
In this social media post, you can see that this mainstream outlet is clearly saying that Jordan canceled it:
President Joe Biden is traveling to Israel to visit the warzone and show support to America's closest ally in the Middle East. The president planned to attend a four-way summit with Arab leaders, but Jordan canceled the meeting following the deadly hospital explosion. pic.twitter.com/UsOYk5lQRI
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 17, 2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently denied that Israel was behind the attack, saying, "It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF." Israel says it has proof that they did not fire on the hospital but that the group Islamic Jihad mistakenly did:
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it investigated the incident and determined it to be a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad, a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas.
Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad is funded and supported by Iran.
The rocket was fired from Gaza and was in close proximity to the hospital at the time it was hit, the IDF said. Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday to speak with Israeli leaders in a show of support.
Meanwhile, protests are breaking out in several Middle East hot spots:
🚨BREAKING: GAZA HOSPITAL BOMBING PROMPTS PROTESTS IN LEBANON AS JORDAN CANCELS SUMMIT WITH PALESTINE & U.S
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 17, 2023
Protests are breaking in various Arab countries, including Lebanon, where protesters march on the US & French embassies, following the bombing of the Gaza Hospital bombing pic.twitter.com/6JCshBTzQY
This nascent Israel-Hamas war does not look like it's going to calm down anytime soon.
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