Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: For the first time, Prime Minister Netanyahu is signaling that he wants to end the war on Gaza
Israeli Channel 12, citing an American source: We want to have entered a path toward captive release and a ceasefire before Netanyahu arrives in Washington
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and two injured in the Israeli airstrike that targeted a motorcycle in the town of Mahrouna
Al Mayadeen correspondent to Southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle between the towns of Jwayya and Mahrouna.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: One martyred in the Israeli drone strike on a car in the town of Kawnin
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli drone targets a car in the town of Kawnin
Naeini: If our national interests are attacked again, our response this time will be stronger and more destructive
Naeini: The war has proven that the settlers are defenseless against Iranian missile and drone forces
Naeini: Trump lacks an understanding of the true strength of the Iranian people and is so deluded as to believe he can change the reality of Iran's victory
Naeini: The defeat led to Trump's confusion and loss of balance, which was reflected in his ill-considered statements

Biden, Macron denounce hospital massacre, fail to mention ‘Israel’

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 18 Oct 2023 04:50
4 Min Read

The US and French presidents deliberately remain silent about the Israeli occupation's responsibility for the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre in Gaza.

  • x
  • Biden, Macron denounce hospital massacre, fail to mention ‘Israel’
    French President Emmanuel Macron, left, speaks with US President Joe Biden after a family photo of leaders of the G7 and invited countries during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima, western Japan, Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was "outraged" by the deadly strike at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza caused by what he called an "explosion", failing to mention "Israel" as the perpetrator.

"I am outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life that resulted," Biden said in a statement as he headed on a visit to "Israel".

Biden said he had spoken to Jordan's King Abdullah II and Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "immediately upon hearing this news."

He added that he had directed his "national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened."

"The United States stands unequivocally for the protection of civilian life during conflict and we mourn the patients, medical staff and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy," Biden said.

Biden had also been due to visit Jordan, but the visit was canceled after the massacre that the Israeli occupation committed, in which the Ministry of Health in Gaza said more than 500 people were martyred.

The Israeli occupation deliberately bombed Al-Maamadani Hospital in the #Gaza Strip with the death toll expected to reach over 800 #Palestinians.#GazaUnderAttack #المستشفى_المعمداني pic.twitter.com/73mHZsgBBX

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 17, 2023

Also failing to mention the Israeli occupation's responsibility for the massacre, French President Emmanuel Macron said that "nothing can justify targeting civilians," calling for humanitarian access to the coastal strip "without delay".

"Nothing can justify a strike against a hospital. Nothing can justify targeting civilians. France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital in Gaza which caused so many Palestinian victims. We think of them," Macron wrote on X.

Nothing can justify striking a hospital.
Nothing can justify targeting civilians.

France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, which made so many Palestinian victims. Our thoughts are with them. All the light must be shed on the circumstances.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 17, 2023

"Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip must be opened without delay."

In response, the head of the France Unbowed Party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, posted on X: "Is it so hard to condemn Netanyahu's war crimes? Is it so hard to condemn the racism that prevents us from seeing a Palestinian as a human being?"

In a separate post, the socialist leader said, "Shame on a French government that invents internal controversies instead of helping the victims of war crimes in Gaza."

Related News

G7 exempts US multinationals from global minimum tax rules

Netanyahu allegedly signals readiness to end Gaza war in first

C'est si dur de condamner les crimes de guerre de Netanyahu ? C'est si dur de condamner le racisme qui empêche de voir dans un palestinien d'abord un être humain ? Belles âmes bonnes consciences où êtes vous ?

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) October 17, 2023

"President [Macron], stop unconditional support for an Israeli government that commits such abominable war crimes." Melenchon stressed, adding, "This is not France."

This is not surprising from Biden and Macron, who expressed their absolute support for the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian Resistance that launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to put an end to "Israel's" daily atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Honte d'un gouvernement français qui invente des polémiques intérieures au lieu d'aller au secours des victimes des crimes de guerre à Gaza. Président, arrêtez le soutien inconditionnel à un gouvernement israélien qui commet des crimes de guerre aussi abominables. La France ce… https://t.co/GUuN5rjJGP

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) October 17, 2023

Earlier, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Movement issued a statement in response to the Israeli occupation’s attempts at falsifying the truth amid attempts to accuse the PIJ of bombing the hospital.

The statement stressed that "hurling accusations at the PIJ will not absolve the enemy of its responsibility for the massacre.”

"The enemy is trying to fabricate lies, as usual, to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre,” the statement read.

The PIJ confirmed in the statement that the movement, like the rest of the Resistance factions in Gaza, "does not use places of worship or public facilities, especially hospitals, as military sites or positions to store weapons or launch rockets."

It stressed that "the Israeli enemy repeats these lies to justify its targeting of these centers, especially hospitals, which is a dangerous accusation by which it aims to evade responsibility for its crime and target other hospitals."

The movement pointed out that the hospital had already received explicit threats from the Israeli occupation to evacuate, stressing that "the conflicting narratives presented by the enemy expose its lies," and slamming its claims circulated across the media as "mere fabrications and slander."

Meanwhile, the PIJ pointed to the fact that a large number of field reporters and eyewitnesses were present at the hospital site, not to mention the videos that were filmed at the moment of the bombing.

The movement further confirmed that "the weight of the explosive head, the angle of the bomb’s fall, and the extent of the destruction it left behind are all documented and confirm that the targeting was done via aerial bombardment from a warplane."

In a related context, BBC Correspondent Jon Donnison said while reporting on the massacre in the hospital that "it's hard to see what else this could be, really, given the size of the explosion, other than an Israeli air strike, or several air strikes."

BREAKING: AL-AHLI BAPTIST HOSPITAL MASSACRE - BBC JOURNALIST STATES IT HAD TO BE ISRAEL

BBC's John Donnison: "It's hard to see what else this could be, really, given the size of the explosion, other than an Israeli air strike, or several air strikes" pic.twitter.com/Gxx4evC9DW

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) October 17, 2023

Read more: Condemnations pouring in following Gaza hospital massacre

  • United States
  • Gaza Strip
  • Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
  • Palestine
  • Al-Maamadani Hospital
  • Israeli aggression
  • Israel
  • Baptist Hospital
  • US
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Israeli occupation
  • France
  • Jean-Luc Melenchon
  • Gaza
  • Joe Biden
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a protest following the US attacks on nuclear sites in Iran, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Iran declares victory as ceasefire forces Israeli retreat

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Iran launches strikes on Israeli targets, despite alleged ceasefire

Iran victorious as ceasefire with 'Israel' takes effect

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Iranian worshippers carry their country's flags in a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)

Iran warns of NPT withdrawal, Strait of Hormuz closure after US attack

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
In this June, 12, 2021, file photo, former Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani sits in a meeting in Tehran, Iran.
Politics

Iran strategically foiled Israeli-US scheme, Advisor Shamkhani says

Sheikh Naim
MENA

Let no one think they can subjugate Hezbollah: Sheikh Qassem

Screengrab from a video published by the al-Qassam Brigades shows confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam releases video of deadly ambush with Israeli forces in Gaza

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Grossi, attends an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Monday, June 23, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran bars IAEA chief Grossi from nuclear facility inspections

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS