US President Joe Biden will pose "tough questions" in meetings with Israeli leaders during a Middle East trip that has been upended by a strike on a Gaza hospital on Tuesday.
Biden is flying to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and show US support in the aftermath of an attack on Israeli villages and military bases by Gaza-based Hamas that killed hundreds of people on Oct. 7.
After his meetings in Israel, Biden had planned to travel to Jordan for meetings with Arab leaders, but that stop was canceled after the strike on the hospital which Palestinian officials blamed on Israel and Israel blamed on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.
The IDF spokesperson gave a press conference declaring that "an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the hospital at the time it was hit. Intelligence from a few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible."
"Tough questions ahead"
Biden will meet with Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet and seek a sense of Israel's plans and objectives in the days and weeks ahead, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Tel Aviv.
"He'll be asking some tough questions, he'll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel, but he'll be asking some questions of them," Kirby said.
Israel is expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza; the United States has been pressing Israelis to allow humanitarian aid in to help civilians.
Kirby declined to specify the nature of the questions Biden intended to ask beyond "what their plans are going forward."
Biden will also meet with Israeli first responders and families of those who lost loved ones in the bloody Hamas assault or whose family members were taken hostage.
Biden will also make public remarks during his visit.
Biden left Washington earlier on Tuesday on what was supposed to be a complex diplomatic mission, aimed at showing support for long-time US ally Israel, calming the region, and shoring up humanitarian efforts for Gaza.