US President, Joe Biden landed in Israel Wednesday on a harmony visit following Hamas attacks, under the shadow of a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital that has inflamed regional tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu personally welcomed Biden on the tarmac, putting his arms around the US president who then clasped his hands around Netanyahu in a sign of the newfound bond between the two leaders.
Under tight security for the US president, Biden and Netanyahu chatted briefly on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport surrounded by their guards before their motorcades set off for Tel Aviv-Yafo hotel where they will hold talks.
Hundreds of armed police and troops were also stationed around the hotel with armed snipers on the roofs of nearby villas.
Tel Aviv-Yafo is just 65 kilometres from the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-ruled territory which Israel has been pounding since a devastating October 7 attack by Hamas militants.
Meanwhile, Gaza Health Ministry on Wednesday, releasing its first official figures following the explosion late Tuesday said a total of 470 Palestinians were killed in the devastating blast at a hospital in the Gaza Strip.
It added that another 324 people were also injured in the explosion while twenty-eight people are in critical condition.
However, Israel denied it attacked the hospital, saying a misguided missile by the Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, was responsible for the blast, providing evidence to back up its claim.
