US reaffirms support for Israel after Gaza hospital strike

US President Joe Biden, during his visit to Israel on October 18, reaffirmed Tel Aviv’s support in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas. This happened after a strike late on October 17 on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip. It led (according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health on the evening of October 18) to the death of at least 471 people and the injury of more than 340, including many children. About 5,000 people took refuge on the hospital grounds from Israeli strikes. Biden blamed the strike, which “saddened and outraged” him, on Israel’s opponents.

Prior to this, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that, based on the results of its investigation, the destruction of the hospital was the result of an unguided missile from the Islamic Jihad group (an ally of Hamas) going off course. The US President, at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that “this was done by another team, not you.” “But there are a lot of people who aren’t sure [в непричастности израильтян]“Biden admitted (quoted by the White House press service). He added that the US would guarantee Israel “everything it needs to defend itself”, announcing an “unprecedented” military aid package later that evening.

“Biden’s compliments to Israel, promises of help and denial of the IDF’s guilt are justified from the point of view of US policy in the region,” believes Lyudmila Samarskaya, a junior researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at IMEMO RAS. According to her, since the beginning of the aggravation of the situation, the United States has taken a consistent position in supporting its main partner and ally in the region and preventing outside forces from interfering in the conflict. “Therefore, the Americans sent aircraft carriers to the shores of Israel, demonstrating to Iran and their proxies their desire to protect their ally, including through military means,” the expert added.

None of the US allies directly accused Israel’s opponents. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said British intelligence was working to “independently confirm” the facts. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has been in Israel since October 17, also called for an independent investigation, saying that he was “shocked” by what happened. French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing can justify hitting the hospital.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the Belt and Road summit in Beijing, condemned the strike, saying Hamas attacks should not be a reason for “collective punishment of civilians.”

Russia and the UAE have requested a meeting of the UN Security Council. And Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called the attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip a war crime for which the United States bears responsibility: “Those who cynically make money from wars in different countries and on different continents. Who thoughtlessly distributes colossal amounts of money for weapons, loading up their military-industrial complex. Who falsely proclaims their global mission to protect democratic values.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on the afternoon of October 18 that Moscow was “deeply shocked” by the attack on a hospital in Gaza and once again calls on the parties to the conflict “to immediately de-escalate” and the international community to “consolidate efforts in the interests of an urgent ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors.”

At the same time, neither Russia (except Medvedev) nor China named in their statements who, in their opinion, was responsible for the strike.

Events in Gaza disrupted a summit with Biden in Amman, where it was planned to discuss the situation in Gaza. King Abdullah II of Jordan, President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas were scheduled to meet with the US President. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Hussein Abdullah al-Safadi explained the cancellation of the summit by saying that under the current conditions he would not be able to prevent a war in the Middle East, while this is precisely the value of such a meeting.

Egypt does not want to help Israel solve the Palestinian problem by expelling the Arab population from the Gaza Strip, notes Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) expert Kirill Semenov. The opening of a humanitarian corridor would save many lives, but it would exacerbate the security problem for Cairo, seriously damage its reputation in the Arab world and turn the Egyptian authorities into an accomplice in the new “Nakba” (Arabic for “catastrophe”, the exodus of Palestinians from Israel in 1948). ), the expert explained. Jordan also declares its reluctance to host Palestinians.

The destruction of a hospital in Gaza sparked anti-Israeli demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa. In Beirut, protesters attacked the UN building. The Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia, which before the conflict participated in the process of normalizing relations with Tel Aviv, condemned the attack on a hospital in Gaza, calling it a “heinous crime” by Israel. Abdullah II called the incident a “massacre.” Turkish President Recep Erdogan on the evening of October 17 called on the international community to “stop this unprecedented atrocity [Израиля]” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on October 18 called on Middle Eastern countries to impose an embargo on oil supplies to Israel.

The likelihood of introducing an oil embargo by Arab countries against Western countries is low, says RIAC program director Ivan Bocharov. In his opinion, since the 1970s. The Middle East has changed: if previously “Arab solidarity” was pronounced, after the conclusion of the “Abraham Accords” on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel by the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020, the position of a number of states on the Palestinian issue became less consolidated. Not all states are ready to support Hamas or are happy about its armed action, Bocharov continues.

According to the expert, Arab countries accepted the fact that Israel plays an important role in the economy and regional security architecture, given that one of the agenda items under the Abraham Accords was the development of tools to contain Iran. “Israel has established technological cooperation with a number of Arab countries; with Saudi Arabia this partnership is informal, but there have been reports of the creation of joint technological projects. Therefore, Arab countries have something to lose and they would not want to completely break off relations with the Israelis,” Bocharov believes.

But with tensions rising in the region and the Biden administration’s openly pro-Israel stance, Gulf countries are likely to distance themselves from Israel and the United States and freeze cooperation projects with Tel Aviv. According to Samara, in the medium term, the Gulf monarchies are still interested in normalizing relations with Israel, reducing tensions and containing Iran. But further rapprochement of their positions with Israel will depend on the results of the current conflict, the expert says.