Biden backs Israel and says hospital blast in Gaza 'appears as though it was done by the other team'

• President Joe Biden touched down in Tel Aviv on Wednesday in a show of support for Israel.
• His visit comes after a hospital in Gaza was bombed. It is still unclear who caused the blast.
• In a press briefing, Biden said he believed the bombing "was done by the other team."

President Joe Biden backed Israel, and said that the blast on a Gaza hospital "appears as though it was done by the other team" — but failed to provide evidence.

Speaking to reporters shortly after touching down in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning, Biden said he was "deeply saddened and outraged" by the strike on Gaza's Al Ahli hospital on Tuesday night.

The bombing left at least 500 people dead, the majority of whom were women and children, the Palestinian health ministry said, according to the Associated Press.

It is still unclear who caused the blast. Israel and Palestinian groups have both blamed each other.

"Based on what I've seen it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," Biden said to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also in attendance.

"But there's a lot of people out there who are not sure, so we've got to overcome a lot of things," he said, not providing any evidence of his own.

Biden traveled to Tel Aviv to meet Netanyahu as a show of support for one of America's strongest allies, following the terror attacks on Israel conducted by Hamas earlier this month.

The US president was meant to meet with Arab leaders next, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but they canceled on him in protest over the hospital bombing.

The White House's statement on the canceled trip referred to Abbas' declaration of a three-day mourning period in the wake of the strike.

Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority, which is the only Palestinian-led government that has relations with the West. It ruled Gaza before Hamas.

Talking to the press on Wednesday, Netanyahu called Biden a "true friend" and commended his "deeply moving" decision to visit Israel during the war.

"I know I speak for the people of Israel when I say thank you," he said.

His comments come after the Israel Defense Forces shared an audio transcript on Wednesday of what they said was Hamas terrorists discussing how the rocket misfired and hit the hospital. and that the shrapnel that was found was not "Israeli shrapnel."

Insider has not been able to verify the authenticity of the audio.

Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip in the wake of Hamas' deadly terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7.

Since Israel launched its counteroffensive, more than 3,300 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health authorities.

About 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, Israeli officials said on Monday.