Tlaib criticizes Biden after Gaza hospital strike: ‘We will remember where you stood’

Editor’s note: The headline on this story has been changed to reflect updated information about the hospital strike.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Tuesday criticized President Biden ahead of his planned trip to Israel after Palestinian officials said the Israeli military killed more than 500 civilians in an airstrike on a Gaza hospital.

Tlaib blamed Biden for encouraging and supporting Israel in its war effort against Hamas in Gaza, instead of pushing for de-escalation in the conflict.

“Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that,” Tlaib said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “[Biden,] this is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire & help de-escalate.” 

“Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslim Americans like me,” she continued. “We will remember where you stood.”

The Gaza Ministry of Health said at least 500 people were killed in the strike on the al-Ahli hospital, with hundreds more injured. 

The Israeli military has denied responsibility for the attack.

Biden, who is scheduled to visit the area Wednesday, has consistently stood by Israel in response to Hamas’s surprise attack 10 days ago, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis. He and other American government officials have backed Israeli calls to eliminate Hamas, which is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed nearly 2,800 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and about two-thirds of this total are children. The strikes have leveled entire neighborhoods and targeted civilians fleeing from areas they were instructed to evacuate by the Israeli military, drawing ire from international aid groups.

Strikes in southern Gaza continued early Tuesday, with 57 Palestinians killed by Israeli missiles, including an entire family who was killed when an Israeli missile destroyed their house, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Biden is scheduled to visit Israel and Jordan and was en route to the region when the hospital attack took place. 

Protests erupted in Ramallah in the West Bank — the de facto capital of the territory — after news of the strike spread with thousands rising against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Al Jazeera reported.

Abbas said he would return to Ramallah from Amman, Jordan, where he was scheduled to meet with Biden on Wednesday, canceling the meeting, according to the AP.

Updated at 10:40 a.m. Oct. 18.