I wanted to be here today for a simple reason. I want the people of Israel, the people of the world, to know where the United States stands. I've had my great Secretary of State here. He's been here for a lot, but I wanted to personally come and make that clear. [00:00:18] The fact is that Israel, as they respond to these attacks, seems to me that that have to continue to ensure that you have what you need to defend yourselves, and we're gonna make sure that occurs as you know. [00:00:34] >> President Joe Biden showed unequivocal support toward Israel during his visit with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. Now, despite Gaza's exploding civilian death toll, which is caused by Israel's continued blockade of humanitarian aid and its merciless bombing campaign, [00:00:53] our president appeared on the world stage to declare that America supports and will continue to fund Israel's brutality toward the Palestinian people. And make no mistake, that is exactly how Biden's words have been perceived in Israel and around the world. [00:01:10] Just ask Dan Arbell, who's a senior fellow at the center for Middle East Policy. >> Speaker 3: Israelis are just ecstatic and enthusiastic about it and are very much appreciating this. Obviously, it gives Israel, sends the message that the US stands by Israel, [00:01:28] is not tying Israel's hands with whatever Israel wants to do, at the same time, providing every military item that Israel will need for this offensive that it's planning to do right after probably the president [00:01:44] leaves sort of a continuation of the operation, but on the ground this time. >> Speaker 2: Just wanna repeat one sentence from what you just heard, that Biden is not tying Israel's hands in what it wants to do. [00:02:01] Just keep that in mind. Now, Biden went even further to show his unwavering devotion to the Israeli government's actions in Gaza and cleared Israel of any blame for yesterday's Al-Ahli hospital explosion. >> Speaker 1: I was deeply saddened and [00:02:17] outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And 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 gotta overcome a lot of things. [00:02:35] >> Speaker 2: Now, that statement led to a lot of outrage because it appeared that Biden had just taken what the IDF had said at face value. The IDF claims a misfired rocket by the Israeli Jihad, not Hamas, hit the hospital. But then, Biden later told reporters that he made his statement based on, quote, [00:02:54] the data I was shown by my defense department, end quote. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House. So just let that sink in for a second. Biden, after making that statement on the world stage, said, no, I made that statement after the defense department gave me intel and [00:03:11] showed me that Israel was cleared of any wrongdoing. Reporters reach out to the Pentagon to ask some questions about that, and the Pentagon tells reporters talk to the White House. Now White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrian Watson says, [00:03:27] they're continuing to collect information on the incident, but that our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts, and open source information, meaning not an investigation on the ground, [00:03:42] is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza. The IDF released what they refer to as evidence that has not been verified by independent sources. >> Speaker 4: The Israeli military has released evidence of what it says is proof [00:03:59] that this was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket, which misfired. They're pointing to two things. One, drone footage over the hospital, which they say shows that there is no crater outside the hospital. You would expect if this was an Israeli airstrike with a heavy ordinance [00:04:16] that there would be some kind of crater. Two, they have released what they are saying is an intercepted conversation between two Hamas officials, where these officials seem to acknowledge that this was a misfired Palestinian rocket that caused the explosion. [00:04:31] We should be really clear. NBC News is not able to verify either of these Israeli claims. We are not able to get to the hospital ourselves. The Israel Gaza border is sealed, the Egypt Gaza border is sealed, so we are not able to verify this ourselves. The Palestinians are adamant that this was an Israeli airstrike. [00:04:51] They are saying that hundreds of people were killed. It is worth saying Hamas and Islamic Jihad do not acknowledge that their rockets do fall in Gaza, which does happen. But it is also worth saying that this is a much, much larger death toll than what we [00:05:07] would normally associate with Palestinian rockets, which are deadly, which are dangerous, but they do not normally kill hundreds of people. >> Speaker 2: Wanna give NBC News credit for doing a good job in making clear that there is a lot that is still uncertain about that hospital explosion. [00:05:24] And to be quite frank, I personally feel uncomfortable trusting the IDF or the United States intelligence on this. For one, the US is committed to unwavering support toward Israel, regardless of what its military does. But that commitment is a lot easier without acknowledging war crimes. [00:05:40] And look, even if a truly independent party conducts an adequate investigation clearing Israel of any wrongdoing, specifically in the hospital explosion, are we just going to pretend that the high civilian death toll in Gaza is a sign that the IDF is engaging in a careful and [00:05:57] precise military operation to root out Hamas? What about the West Bank, the occupied West Bank, where Hamas does not have control? What about the brutality Palestinians are facing there? Biden's comments happened with the backdrop of mass protests around [00:06:14] the world, expressing outrage over what happened to the hospital. >> Speaker 5: Rage is erupting across the Arab world. Thousands of protesters converged on the US embassy in Beirut. >> Speaker 5: We're here to let the Arab people wake up. [00:06:31] >> Speaker 5: In Turkey, demonstrators rushed the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. They're all reacting to what Palestinians call a massacre that explosion at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. >> I heard an almighty screech, followed by a large explosion. [00:06:49] Part of the ceiling of the operating room fell. >> Speaker 5: Bodies can be seen laying on the ground, children among the victims. >> Speaker 2: Now, keep in mind that just days ago, on October 14th, the World Health Organization, which is the United Nations Agency for [00:07:07] Public Health, condemned Israel for ordering the evacuations of 22 hospitals treating 2000 Palestinians in north Gaza. The forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe, they wrote. [00:07:23] The lives of many critically ill and fragile patients hang in the balance. Those in intensive care or who rely on life support, patients undergoing hemodialysis, newborns in incubators, women with complications of pregnancy, and others, all face imminent [00:07:41] deterioration of their condition or death if they are forced to move and are cut off from life-saving medical attention while being evacuated. There are verified reports of deaths of health care workers and [00:07:56] destruction of health facilities, which denies civilians the basic human right of life-saving health care and is prohibited under International Humanitarian Law. And look, even while the hospital explosion is getting all of the attention, [00:08:13] and there's this big debate about who is responsible for it, there's other examples of hospitals being targeted that are not getting as much attention because the death toll is much lower. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the blasts targeted multiple [00:08:29] residential buildings and main streets in the area of Al Quds hospital and the main headquarters of the organization in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in western Gaza City that was just reported today. As a result of this bombardment, shrapnel has penetrated the building where more [00:08:47] than 8000 displaced individuals are located, along with the organization's staff, according to the Palestinian Red Cross. And it's not like the Al-Ahli hospital hadn't been targeted by the IDF previously. In fact, that hospital is an Anglican run hospital. [00:09:05] And days prior to the hospital explosion, the Archbishop of Canterbury released the following official statement. The hospital was hit by Israeli rocket fire last night, with four staff injured in the blast. Other hospitals have also been hit. [00:09:21] I appeal for the evacuation order on hospitals in northern Gaza to be reversed and for health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians to be protected. The evil and barbaric terror attacks on Israelis by Hamas were a blasphemous outrage. [00:09:40] But the civilians of Gaza are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas. But as we've all seen, Palestinian civilians have suffered the burden of Israel's retaliation, not just during this war, but in past wars in Gaza as well. [00:09:56] In 2014, Amnesty International put out a statement condemning Israel's targeting of hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The continuing bombardment, they wrote at the time, of civilian homes in several areas of the Gaza Strip, as well as the Israeli shelling of a hospital add to the list of possible war crimes. [00:10:14] The third floor of the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah was struck by Israeli shelling, killing four people and wounding dozens, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson. The al-Wafa rehabilitative hospital was severely damaged after being [00:10:31] attacked twice by Israeli forces. In addition to that statement, the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, said the hospital had received at least three Israeli military orders to evacuate in the days before the blast. [00:10:47] It was hit by Israeli shelling Sunday, wounding four staffers, he said. And while the Hamas terror attacks that killed 1400 Israeli civilians were horrific and absolutely should be condemned, those who do so would [00:11:02] be heartless hypocrites to dismiss the rising Palestinian civilian death count. The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 12,000 wounded, with most of the casualties being women, [00:11:18] children, and the elderly. Another 1,300 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. The numbers will continue to grow. Demonstrating brazen disregard for civilian lives, [00:11:34] Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Friday that all civilians, all civilian, citizens of Gaza, are responsible for the attack Hamas perpetrated in Israel. Here's his quote, it is an entire nation out there that is responsible. [00:11:51] It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved, it's absolutely not true. They could have risen up, they could have fought against the evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d'etat, right? [00:12:06] So the civilian Palestinian population of Gaza is supposed to go against a terrorist organization in possession of all sorts of weapons, including rockets. And if they don't, then they're culpable for [00:12:22] the terror attacks that Hamas carried out in Israel. That is the line of thinking that leads to the absolute undermining of the severity of targeting civilians, killing civilians. Insider also reported that images released, [00:12:39] specifically by the Israeli military, show that the IDF is using unguided munitions. Gaza is a densely populated area, and unguided bombs increase the likelihood of civilian casualties. Here are the images in question. [00:12:55] It appears that the Israeli Air Force may be dipping into stocks of older, less accurate unguided munitions. At least two recent Israeli Air Force posts display the use of 750 pound M117 unguided bombs. [00:13:14] There you see it? There are more people involved in this story, more experts who looked at these photos, and here's what they have to say. Michael Bohnert, an engineer and analyst at the Rand Corporation, said that in the images, there was no visible GPS-guided JDAM kit or [00:13:32] laser-guided Paveway kit. The bomb in this picture is unguided and likely highly inaccurate, he said. Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow for airpower and military technology at the Royal United Services Institute think [00:13:48] tank who's also a professor at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, also identified the bomb as a 750 pound M117 dumb bomb. The weapons used, the evacuation orders toward hospitals, the previous targeting of health facilities, and the overall disregard for civilian lives [00:14:08] has led to the rage that protesters in the Middle East are expressing today. So as rage spread through the region because of the hospital carnage, Jordan's foreign minister said that his country is deciding to cancel a regional summit that was scheduled today in Oman. [00:14:26] Biden was supposed to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Now, that's not going to happen. The war between Israel and Hamas was pushing the region to the brink. [00:14:43] Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told state-run television. He said Jordan would host the summit only when everyone had agreed its purpose would be to stop the war, respect the humanity of the Palestinians, [00:14:59] and deliver the aid they deserve. Biden's visit to Israel led to one concession from Netanyahu. Israel said that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu's office said the decision was approved in light of a request [00:15:19] from visiting U.S. President Joe Biden. In a statement, it said it, quote, will not thwart deliveries of food, water, and medicine as long as the supplies do not reach Hamas. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel. [00:15:36] In addition, Biden announced today that the United States will be sending aid to Gaza. I just announced, he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, $100 million for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank. [00:15:52] This money will support over 1 million displaced, conflict-affected Palestinians, and we will have mechanisms in place so this aid reaches those in need, not Hamas or terrorist groups. And in an update to this story, which we just received, [00:16:09] apparently the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to open the Rafa crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid. After President Joe Biden spoke with the leader for more than an hour on Air Force One, [00:16:25] he agreed that what he would do is open the gate to do two things. One, let up to 20 trucks through to begin with. Biden told reporters who were traveling with him on his way back from Israel. My ambassador is in Cairo now, he's going to coordinate this. [00:16:42] He has my authority to do what is needed to get it done, Biden said. But honestly, it's not clear when the aid will begin to enter Gaza. Egypt's Rafah crossing has only a limited capacity, and Egypt says it has been damaged by Israeli airstrikes. [00:17:00] On Sunday, for instance, Secretary of state Anthony Blinken said the Rafah crossing out of Gaza, which leads into Egypt and is the only exit point from the Strip that does not lead into Israel, would reopen. Egyptian officials echoed that message, and on Monday, the U.S. embassy to [00:17:18] Israel told the hundreds of Americans trapped in Gaza to head to the crossing. Then Israel bombed it for the fourth time this month, and it remained closed all day. On Tuesday, far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared [00:17:35] that the only thing that should be allowed into Gaza until Hamas and allied militants free their nearly 200 hostages captured on October 7th are hundreds of tons of explosives, not an ounce of humanitarian aid. So I'm not gonna hold my breath hoping that that humanitarian aid is [00:17:54] gonna reach Palestinian civilians soon. I hope it does, but we keep getting conflicting reports, and it's easy to say that the Egyptian government is gonna open that border to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, but [00:18:09] that's difficult to do when that area is constantly riddled with airstrikes. Now, at the same time, Israel refuses to allow aid into Gaza from its territory. And the associated press reports that the Israeli strikes on Gaza continued [00:18:26] Wednesday, meaning today, including on cities in south Gaza that Israel had described as safe zones for Palestinian civilians. Let's keep it real. This is relentless brutality toward Palestinian civilians and [00:18:41] does little in creating a safer world for Israelis. The indiscriminate bombing of Gaza could expand this war to neighboring countries, including Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Biden has made clear that the United States will not pressure Israel to pump [00:18:58] the brakes, and Americans with a conscience feel powerless as our money, including a possible additional supplemental military aid package for Israel, flow toward this asymmetrical and brutal war. That's the reality of the situation. [00:19:13] Regardless of whether Israel is finally really cleared of that explosion in the hospital, it would be a mistake to just focus on that one instance. Should look at the broader war, look at the death toll, and look at the endless statements coming from Israel's far right government making it [00:19:32] clear that the lives of civilians really don't matter that much.