Biden announces $100M in humanitarian aid for Gaza, West Bank

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a $100 million humanitarian aid package for war-stricken Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

"Today, I'm also announcing $100 million in new US funding for both Gaza and the West Bank," he said after pushing Israel to allow the International Red Cross into Gaza to visit hostages there.

"This money will support more than one million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza," he added.

The Gaza Strip has been hit by a forceful campaign of Israeli airstrikes since Oct. 7, when Hamas – the Palestinian group that controls the strip – launched an unexpected attack on southern Israel.

Continuing his visit to Israel, which began earlier the same day, Biden also reiterated the US' full support for Israel.

"Israel, you're not alone, the US stands with you," he said.

Biden also said they "believe in the fundamental dignity of human life, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Christian, everyone," a tenet that many, especially in the Muslim world, have questioned in the wake of Tuesday's Israeli airstrike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip, leading to some 471 civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The attack was followed by protests in many world capitals, blaming both Israel and its longtime ally the US.

Israel denies it was involved in the attack on the hospital.

After the attack, footage on social media showed corpses scattered across the hospital grounds.

Thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, were at the hospital when the building came under bombardment, according to an Anadolu reporter.