Reuters World News - Biden's Israel stand. Plus, the blame game and fury over hospital blast

Episode Date: October 18, 2023

Joe Biden, in Israel, pledged solidarity in its war against Hamas and said that a blast that killed huge numbers of Palestinians appeared to have been caused not by Israel but by its foes. The president's rare war time trip was supposed to be a diplomatic mission in the region to stop the war widening, but the hospital blast just hours before he arrived -- and an ensuing blame game -- had Arab leaders pull out. *The podcast incorrectly referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as the president of Israel. It was updated to reflect that he is the prime minister. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today. I'm proud to be here. Thank you. Thank you. President Biden in Israel on a high-stakes mission to de-escalate the conflict. The morning after, a blast at a hospital, kills hundreds of Palestinians. The Middle East left reeling, anger boiling over on the streets after Israel denies responsibility. As fears grow that mass Palestinian casualties could bring other reaching.

players into the war. Biden stands firmly with Israel. I want to say to the people of Israel, their courage, their commitment, their bravery is stunning. It's Wednesday, October 18th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vennel.

A moment no one expected, even in the darkest hours of war. Gaza's Al-Ahali al-Arabi hospital, a place of refuge, until it was hit by a huge explosion, killing hundreds of Palestinians. It was where the injured were being treated and where many were sheltering for safety from relentless bombardment. The blasters sparked widespread international condemnation

and anger over who's to blame. Gaza's health ministry and Hamas say it was an Israeli air strike. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel has crossed a red line. But Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says Israel has intelligence proving militant group Islamic jihad is to blame. A spokesperson for the militant group says that is completely incorrect. Both sides are accusing each other of a propaganda campaign. This morning, President Biden sitting across a table from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said,

I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there's a lot of people out there, not sure. So we've got to overcome a lot of things. The blast unleashed new fury on the streets of the Middle East. In fresh fears, the conflict will now escalate. This was Tunisia, where protesters gathered out. the French embassy in Tunis.

And in the Jordanian capital, Amman, protesters tried to storm the Israeli embassy. This is where Joe Biden had also been due to visit, but that trip is now off. Jordan has cancelled the summit with its leaders and those of Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. So what hope is there for diplomacy? We talk to our White House correspondent Trevor Hunnicott. Trevor, those Arab leaders have come out and said they cannot meet with Biden, What levers does Biden have left? So Biden is going to remain in touch with a number of leaders in the Arab world.

They are going to continue to talk. It's just going to have to be not face to face, which is not ideal for Biden, who really thinks that his kind of personal diplomacy is what would really improve the situation on the ground. Biden has said many times he's a strong supporter of Israel and that all of America stands with Israel. How does that come across on this visit? So Biden's trip is going to look even more resolute in terms of his support for Israel because now he's primarily going to be meeting with Israeli officials. And so that message of kind of resolute support for Israel is going to be even stronger. It's not going to be muddled with all of these other meetings with different political officials who obviously have vastly different opinions of the situation on the ground than Israel.

And that's really important for him because he's trying to prevent a broader regional. war. He wants Iran to take a message away that the U.S. is standing with Israel and that it would be a really dumb move for them to get into this conflict at this point. And so he's still going to be able to make that message. Does this risk inflaming the situation even more? So a number of people in the Arab world, including Hamas, but also including a lot of other people in the region, have expressed a tremendous deal of anger about this incident. They have suggested that people show up at the U.S. embassies around the world and Israeli embassies around the world to protest this. And so that's actually making a security dynamic that the Biden administration really does not

like a whole lot worse. And if Biden is perceived as being not very calculated in how he approaches the Israel visit, it could inflame situation worse. And that's one of the calculations that Biden is really thinking about and his team is really trying to thread a needle here. There's only one thing better than having a true friend like me. you standing with Israel, and that is having you standing in Israel. Your visit here is the first visit of an American president in Israel at a time of war. It is deeply, deeply moving. Israel's Netanyahu fulsome in his praise of Biden's visit.

But where does this hospital blast and the diplomatic fallout leave him? Emily Rose is in Jerusalem. Those meetings that were canceled between those Arab leaders, are crucial, specifically if we look at the issue of the hostages, and likely those diplomatic channels with Arab states could have been used to broker some kind of exchange with hostages. And so that makes that process, or it could make that process far more difficult. Emily, what about Netanyahu personally? Well, one interesting aspect to look at there is that Netanyahu, it already looks like from this

crisis is dropping in popularity among Israeli citizens. And one of the discourse, or part of the discourse that's happening among Israelis here is about comparing Netanyahu to Biden. And Biden is really growing in popularity and seen as sort of a firm leader who can bring order to the region. This crisis, though, may aggregate that sort of image of Netanyahu. It may aggravate it and make it even worse, because now there is so much more pressure. on Netanyahu to try to get a hold of this crisis and make sure that it doesn't worsen. Let's speak now to Carmel Crimmons about what's happening in the markets. And Carmel, the turmoil in the Middle East is hitting markets hard, right?

It is. Investors are looking at the anger boiling over on the street and they're worried that this conflict is going to spread. Right now, the market is signaling that the risk points to an escalation. So you're seeing oil prices rise on fears that supply will be affected, if Iran or others enter the conflict, so those oil prices jump 2%, and shares are down in Europe. Looking ahead to the US, if there are upbeat results from Tesla and Netflix, that may lighten the mood somewhat, but only somewhat. Jim Jordan is looking to build support as he bids for Speaker of the House of Representatives

after coming up short in the first vote. He needs 217 votes to claim the Speaker's gavel and is now scrambling to pressure the 20 fellow Republicans who voted against him on Tuesday. As the United States puts its full diplomatic force into preventing war in the Middle East, China's Xi Jinping is hosting his own summit. Vladimir Putin, the guest of honor, among delegates attending the Belt and Road initiative. Foreign policy editor Don Durfee is in Beijing. Don, attendance looks a lot different this year than in the past, right?

It is. It's a smaller crowd. And the makeup is different as well. There are fewer leaders from major Western countries. So the only representative from an EU country is Hungary's Victor Orban. Other notable representatives include Taliban minister, there's Vladimir Putin, and various leaders from the global south. So it really is a smaller event than in the past. What's she's goal with this summit? So this is the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road project.

And for she, you know, it really is a signature foreign policy. Initiative. They've put out hundreds of billions of loans for infrastructure projects across the developing world. So she's goal is to really show that this initiative is a success, despite criticism that has come out of it, that it has resulted in China making loans to developing countries that many of them can't repay. It's also for China, it's a signal to the global South, that China and not the U.S. and its partners is really the best supporter and kind of the natural partner for developing countries around the world. How does the conflict between Israel and Hamas affect that goal?

So China is trying to really gain greater influence among the global South. I think as a result of that, we're going to see China increasingly throwing its weight behind the Palestinian cause here and being more critical of Israel. But China also would like to portray itself as a peacemaker, right? They've gotten more involved in Middle East diplomacy, and I think you're going to see some attempts by them to get involved in some of the discussions for some sort of a way out of this conflict.

That's it for today's episode. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out our two special episodes on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, please do take a listen. We published them over the weekend, and you can find them in our feed, and we'll also put links in today. episode description. We'll be back on Thursday with our daily news show. To make sure you know

what's going on in the world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.