Biden says 'other team' involved in Gaza hospital blast, absolves Israel

US President Joe Biden has said that the blast which saw more than 500 people killed at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza was not caused by Israeli air strikes.

"Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," Biden said on Wednesday during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, evidently referring to Israeli claims that Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group was responsible.

Both Islamic Jihad and the Hamas have rejected Israel claims than a misfiring Islamic Jihad rocket had caused the blast in the hospital that killed an estimated 500 people.

"There’s a lot of people out there that are not sure, so we have got to overcome a lot of things,” added the president, who arrived in Israel on the same day for a hastily arranged visit amid the conflict with Hamas.

Biden also pledged more support to Israel in its ongoing conflict with Palestinians, which sparked into open warfare 12 days ago.

It should be ensured that Israel has “what you need to continue to defend yourselves,” Biden said, reiterating his theme that Israel has the right to self-defense.

“We are going to make sure that occurs, as you know,” he told Netanyahu.

“We also have to bear in mind that Hamas does not represent all Palestinian people,” Biden said, also claiming the group “has always brought them suffering.”

Forensic evidence from the explosion

More than 500 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the blockaded enclave on Tuesday, Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza's spokesman Ashraf al Qudra told the Anadolu news agency.

Thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment, according to an Anadolu reporter. Footage on social media showed corpses scattered across the hospital grounds.

Rebutting Israeli claims that Islamic Jihad, Hamas, or another Palestinian group was responsible for the blast, the Turkish government’s Center for Combating Disinformation late Tuesday pointed to forensic evidence from the explosion as well as Israeli warnings that it would target hospitals, claiming that fighters were taking shelter there.

More than 4,700 people killed

Twelve days into the conflict with armed group Hamas, Israel's bombardment and blockade of Gaza continued, with over 1 million people displaced — almost half of Gaza's total population, according to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees or UNRWA.

The fighting began on Oct. 7 when Hamas initiated Operation Al Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in Gaza.

To date, more than 4,700 people have been killed in the armed conflict, including at least 3,300 Palestinians and more than 1,400 Israelis.