European heads of state make beeline for Israel, but Arab world snubs Joe Biden’s Tel Aviv visit
FirstpostPresident Biden’s efforts to tamp down tensions between Israel and Hamas encountered a massive setback as Jordan called off the President’s planned Amman summit with Arab leaders after a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds. US President Joe Biden embarked on a high-stakes mission Wednesday to West Asia with the aim of addressing the Palestinian humanitarian crisis and reaffirming support for Israel but his attempts to de-escalate tensions in the ongoing conflict encountered massive setbacks even before his departure as the scheduled meetings with key Arab leaders were cancelled following an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden retreated strong support for Israel and some of them even visited the country to show solidarity. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also extended support to Israel and encouraged world leaders to visit Israel in a show of solidarity with its people and to deter further aggression.