Biden’s Middle East mission was thrown into turmoil even before he left
October 17, 2023
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/17/politics/biden-middle-east-mission-turmoil/index.html
(CNN) President Joe Biden’s mission to contain Israel’s confrontation with Hamas was overtaken even before he left Washington on Tuesday evening by fast worsening events that threaten to spill over into a regional war.
A devastating blast at a hospital in Gaza believed to have killed hundreds of people prompted Jordan to cancel the second leg of Biden’s trip. After a visit to Israel, he’d been due in Amman to meet key Arab and Palestinian leaders.
The tragedy – blamed by Hamas on Israel and by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on another Palestinian radical group, Islamic Jihad – reflected the stark risks of a presidential trip amid accelerating events and in a war zone.
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