Jordan's Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, stated on Tuesday that a four-way conference featuring the United States will be canceled on Wednesday. President Joe Biden, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are among those attending.
Tensions in the region rose on Tuesday when an airstrike targeted the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza that day, killing hundreds. Israel's military denied any participation, blaming the Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza.
Mr. Safadi raised fears to state-run al-Mamlaka television that the Israel-Hamas conflict was driving the Middle East "to the brink," prompting the meeting to be postponed.
Following President Biden's visit to Israel, the summit was originally scheduled to take place in Amman, Jordan.
The cancellation was resolved "in a mutual way," according to White House officials en route to Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, after Mr. Abbas had previously withdrew his participation in the Wednesday meeting to mark "three days of mourning" following the hospital attack.
“There was a general feeling … that not going to Amman was the right thing to do,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Israel.
The White House had planned to use the summit to tackle the recent Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which took place on Oct. 7, as well as the situation of the approximately 200 hostages held by Hamas and humanitarian help for Gaza.
Mr. Abbas' resignation from the conference was confirmed by a senior Palestinian source.
According to top Palestinian officials, Mr. Abbas' exit was a protest at a bombing on a Gaza hospital.
The attack wreaked havoc. According to camera footage, the hospital was on fire, and bodies, including those of children, were scattered throughout the grounds, along with blankets and possessions.
As suspicions spread, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against stories and internet assertions that Israel was behind the strike.
“The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF. Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children,” Mr. Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.
The terrorist group Hamas, which is sponsored by Iran, first accused Israel for the attack on the hospital. According to the organization, about 500 people were killed in the bombing.
However, after completing an investigation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the incident was carried out by the Islamic Jihad, a smaller Iran-backed terror group that collaborates with Hamas.
According to the IDF, the organization launched "a barrage of rockets" into Israel, one of which struck the hospital.
“I can confirm that an analysis of the IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli Hospital hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a video statement posted on X.
“Intelligence from few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed launch which hit the hospital in Gaza. I repeat, this is the responsibility of Islamic Jihad that killed innocents in the hospital in Gaza,” he continued.
President Biden left Washington on Tuesday afternoon for Israel, where he is scheduled to arrive at 9 a.m. On Wednesday, local time, he wants to show his support for Israeli soldiers operating in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
The White House increased the American casualty toll since Hamas launched its first strike on Israel on Oct. 7 to 31, with 13 still unaccounted for.
