Israel welcomes support from U.S. Pres. Biden amid Gaza crisis
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00:00 U.S. President Joe Biden flew to Israel to show even greater support to Netanyahu's government
00:05 and persuaded him to reopen the southern border at Gaza and Egypt to let in humanitarian aid
00:11 for the wounded and suffering people of Gaza.
00:14 VOA's Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem.
00:19 Israel welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden, who came for a solidarity visit with the people
00:24 and leaders of the Jewish state.
00:27 After meetings with Israeli officials, he spent time with survivors of the Hamas attack
00:32 and first responders.
00:34 Just hours before President Biden arrived in Israel, a missile or rocket hit the Al-Ahly
00:39 Hospital in central Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians.
00:43 Hamas officials blamed Israel and thousands of Palestinians protested in the West Bank,
00:49 some of them throwing rocks as Palestinian security forces moved in to disperse them
00:54 with tear gas.
00:55 Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari denied any responsibility and instead blamed
01:01 militants.
01:02 The explosion of the Al-Ahly Al-Mahdani Hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic jihad rocket
01:09 that was misfired.
01:11 Along with promising unprecedented support to Israel, President Biden came here expressing
01:16 concern about a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
01:20 Israel has cut off the supply of electricity, fuel and food to Gaza, where Hamas is holding
01:26 some 200 Israeli hostages.
01:28 Truckloads of international aid for Gaza's 2.2 million residents have lined up at the
01:33 Rafah border with Egypt, which had been closed since the hostilities began.
01:38 Biden succeeded in persuading Israel to allow this aid to enter from Egypt, but the Israeli
01:43 prime minister's office says Israel will not allow the transfer of aid from its territory
01:47 to Gaza until the Israeli hostages are freed.
01:51 What is needed in Gaza now is an immediate access.
01:57 This corridor at Rafah needs to be opened as soon as possible.
02:02 There's an absolute need for fuel, water, food, and of course medicines and medical
02:10 supplies.
02:12 The supplies are ready.
02:13 They're at the border.
02:14 They're waiting to get in.
02:16 Israel has ordered more than a million Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and move to the south,
02:22 saying it's for their own safety.
02:24 Close to half a million have done so, including Fida Al-Araj, who works with the British
02:29 charity Oxfam in Gaza.
02:31 Along with her husband, five children and mother-in-law, she says she's moved three
02:35 times since the war began and is now in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
02:41 We are seeking a safer place because of the children in here and because of my mother-in-law.
02:46 She's not capable of walking and running, and so we are seeking safety, even though
02:55 I doubt something called safety still exists in the whole of Gaza.
03:00 The Palestinian Health Authority and the World Health Organization in Gaza say more than
03:04 3,000 people have been killed since the war began, including 1,500 women and children.
03:10 The number of dead and wounded has increased considerably after the hospital attack.
03:14 My cousin, his family was bombed in their house.
03:19 His mother, his wife and his five kids were blown to bits.
03:23 We didn't even have bodies to bury.
03:27 With the conflict escalating and an Israeli ground assault on Gaza expected soon, Al-Araj
03:32 says she and other Palestinians worry that life in Gaza will become even more dangerous.
03:38 Linda Gradstein, VOA News, Jerusalem.
03:41 (upbeat music)