Air raid sirens blared in southern Israel on Thursday morning as Israeli aircraft pounded Gaza with more air strikes. The pounding followed the death of six Palestinians in an attack on a house full of families sheltering from airstrikes that hit a Gaza refugee camp. The strike targeted a home run by the charity UNRWA, which provides housing for families forced to leave their homes because of the fighting. Several people were also wounded.
An Israeli official said that the blast appeared to come from an errant rocket launched from inside Gaza. It was the latest in a series of attacks that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and prompted global outrage.
President Joe Biden returned to the region on Wednesday, visiting Tel Aviv and urging Israel to “defend itself and protect its civilians while addressing the terrible plight of those in Gaza who are not able to defend themselves.” During an eight-hour trip that included a stop at Ramstein Air Base for refueling, Biden was blunt in warning Israeli leaders. He said they would lose credibility worldwide if they did not seek ways to ease the plight of those living in Gaza, where Hamas gunmen have taken more than 200 people hostage.
Biden, whose visit comes amid a tense military standoff with Hamas, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States is committed to providing “unprecedented support” to Israel’s defense while pressing it to avoid further escalation of conflict in the small coastal enclave. He promised to discuss coordination with allies in the Middle East and urged Egypt’s president to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza so that aid could reach the population in need, the White House said.
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was due to arrive in Israel on Thursday afternoon, a day after the U.S. president, to show the government’s continuing support for Israel’s war against Hamas while urging it to ease the plight of besieged Gazans. His visit will focus on various issues, including security assistance and efforts to track missing Americans.
Sunak is also scheduled to meet leaders from Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar as part of a more comprehensive tour of the region, including a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince. The prime minister’s office said he would urge them to help prevent the conflict from spreading, press for Gaza’s borders to be opened, and call on Hamas to release the hostages.
The tour will be interrupted by days of mourning announced by King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority for victims of the bombing of a Gaza hospital, which triggered mass protests across the Arab world. Graeme Massie and Andrew Feinberg contributed to this report. United Airlines shares dropped 8% on Wednesday after it reported a profit outlook below expectations because of higher fuel costs and its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv. Delta and American also have suspended operations in the city.
