Tipsheet

Part of Biden's Middle East Trip Already Canceled

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  October 18, 2023 7:30 AM

President Biden’s trip to the Middle East has been cut short after Jordan canceled the commander in chief’s planned summit with Arab leaders following the bombing of a hospital in Gaza.

As the president was preparing to take off, the White House confirmed he will only visit Israel. 

“The Amman summit was scrapped after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas withdrew in protest of the explosion, which the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza blamed on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said it had no involvement and pinned the blame on a misfired Palestinian rocket,” AP reports. 

Jordan’s foreign minister said the summit would only be held if all attendees agreed that the purpose would be on ending the war, “respecting the humanity of the Palestinians” and delivering aid.

Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by what happened at the Al Ahli Arab hospital and instructed his national security team to investigate the situation further. “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."

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Biden later said he believes Israel's assessment that a Hamas rocket misfire led to the explosion.

Protests have already broken out across the Middle East.