President Joe Biden said Friday he thought Hamas was motivated to attack Israel in part by a desire to stop that country from normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.

“One of the reasons … why Hamas moved on Israel, is because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Mr. Biden said at a campaign fundraiser. The U.S. president indicated that he thinks Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on October 7 because, “Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel” and were near being able to formally do so.

Jerusalem and Riyadh had been steadily inching closer to normalisation, with Mr. Biden working to help bring the two countries together, announcing plans in September at the Group of 20 summit in India to partner on a shipping corridor.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Mr. Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September and told him, “I think that under your leadership, Mr. President, we can forge a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”

-AP

Tel Aviv:

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that an “errant rocket” fired by a “terrorist group” caused a devastating explosion at a Gaza hospital that left hundreds dead.

“Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appears as a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” Joe Biden told reporters at the end of a short trip to show solidarity with Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

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