Biden will visit Israel, Jordan after brutal Hamas attack

Biden will also meet with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and Palestine during his trip

(Image credit: Kyle Mazza / Anadolu via Getty Images)

published 17 October 2023

President Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday "to stand in solidarity in the face of Hamas' brutal terrorist attack," Biden tweeted Monday night. "I'll then travel to Jordan to address dire humanitarian needs." He will meet in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

The Biden administration has been sending military supplies to Israel, reiterating that Tel Aviv has a right and duty to go after Hamas, and trying to prevent the conflict from spreading into a regional conflagration. Biden and other U.S. officials have also stressed to Israeli leaders "that once Israel is seen blowing up buildings and triggering Palestinian casualties, public sentiment around the world could change dramatically," The New York Times reported. "It would focus less on the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, with its scenes of burned bodies and massacred children, and more on the brutality of the response."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden's trip Monday evening after nearly eight hours of meetings with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv. He waited to announce the visit until after the U.S. team "received commitments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a humanitarian package" for civilians trapped in Gaza with little food, water, medicine, or fuel amid Israel airstrikes, The Washington Post reported, citing two U.S. officials. "It is critical that aid begin to flow into Gaza as soon as possible," Blinken said.

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Blinken did not give details on the humanitarian agreement. "The provision of humanitarian aid is sensitive in Israel, especially among far-right politicians tied to Netanyahu who have pressed him to wage a scorched-earth campaign in Gaza," the Post reported. Egypt, meanwhile, has been reluctant to open its borders to Palestinian refugees. The U.S. plan envisions allowing people with U.S. and other Western passports to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt while trucks of international aid waiting on the Egyptian side of the border drop off their supplies on the Gaza side, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.