PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — President Joe Biden is on his way to the Middle East to show American support for Israel, but he also needs to balance humanitarian concerns for civilians in Gaza, while working to help to prevent the war from expanding to other fronts.
After visiting Israel Wednesday, Biden had planned to travel to Amman for a summit with leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.
Dr. Asaf Romirowsky, with Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, says Biden has an interest in containing the war between Hamas and Israel to the Gaza border. However, before the president departed on Tuesday, any effort to tamp down tensions in the escalating conflict was set back when a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas withdrew from the scheduled meetings in protest, and Jordan’s foreign minister told state-run television that Jordan would postpone the summit.
Ayman Safadi told al-Mamlaka TV that the war between Israel and Hamas was "pushing the region to the brink.”
As the United States’ angry Arab partners point to Biden's failure to prioritize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a threat to the stability of the entire Middle East, the president now will visit only Israel.
One disaster compounds another
As the U.S. on Tuesday tried to convince Israel to allow the delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip, which has been under a complete siege since Hamas' deadly rampage in southern Israel last week, a massive rocket blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter.
As least 500 people were killed, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. Outrage over what many believed was an Israeli strike flared across the region.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military blamed Islamic Jihad, a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas in their shared struggle against Israel. The military said Islamic Jihad had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital at the time and that “intelligence from multiple sources" indicated it was "responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital.”
Video that The Associated Press confirmed was from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital's grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. Around them in the grass were blankets, school backpacks and other belongings.
Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in Gaza City hospitals, hoping they would be spared bombardment.
American intervention will be complicated
Biden has an interest in containing the war between Hamas and Israel to the Gaza border, says Dr. Asaf Romirowsky, executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. The president is keeping an eye on countries north of Israel, as well.
“Basically, Lebanon has been Syria's playground,” says Romirowsky.
He says the problem is that the Lebanese army is synonymous with the militant terrorist organization Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and has been pushing to get involved in this war.
“The hope is that aircraft carriers and American presence in the region will deter Hezbollah and Iran from getting fully involved, though I highly doubt that, given the desire of Hezbollah to get involved and given the fact that the Iranians are constantly looking to poke at us, United States, and the Israelis,” Romirowsky said.
Hezbollah has recruited Lebanese Shi’ite Muslims to support the radical ideology they share with Hamas terrorists.
“So you're also talking about the involvement of Syria. And given the fact that there is also Russian presence in the port of Syria, you’re also talking about Russia.”
Romirowsky explains the U.S. strategic military presence in the region is meant “to really highlight to the Iranians — and Hezbollah, by extension — that America has Israel's back.”
Complicating the war further is the issue of roughly 180 hostages, including about 20 Americans, taken prisoner in Gaza.
“How much actual force or leeway do we actually have with anybody who is not Hezbollah is a big question,” said Romirowsky.
He says the goal of America is to keep the war contained and to free American hostages. The goal of the terror groups is to eradicate Israel through brutal attacks on civilians. And the goal of Israel is to eradicate Hamas.
“And when you talk about the dismantlement of Hamas, we're not only talking about the military side of Hamas, we're also talking about the leadership and the political wing of Hamas itself.
“We're talking about a complex operation. We're talking about urban warfare, when the ground incursion begins in Gaza.”
And that, he says, could take months.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.