Tel Aviv [Israel], October 18 : Following the airstrike on a hospital in Gaza, US President Joe Biden, with Charge d'affaires Stephanie Hallett and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met first responders and doctors including United Hatzalah founder Eli Beer, who treated victims of the Hamas onslaught, The Times of Israel reported.
The paramedics told Biden about treating victims of the attacks in the field.
He further lauded the heroism of Israelis, civilians who fought terrorists, medics who treated victims and reservists who left everything to save civilians' lives during the Hamas attack, The Times of Isreal reported.
Biden further quoted an old poem, stating, "Too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart," though he appears to replace sacrifice with the word "suffering" to more aptly apply to the current moment.
He noted that "none of your hearts have turned to stone" and expressed his admiration for how the medical professionals expressed pride in having treated victims regardless of whether they were Jewish or Muslim, according to The Times of Israel.
The US President said that he is "convinced" that if more people know these stories of the conduct of the medical professionals, "the more they will embrace Israel."
He repeated the story that the former Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir told him that Israel's secret weapon is that the Jews have nowhere else to go.
According to The Times of Israel, Biden also said that "you don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist."
"The State of Israel was born to be a safe place for the Jewish people. While it may not feel that way today... Israel must again be a safe place for the Jewish people," he added.
Moreover, Biden emphasized that the October 7 Hamas onslaught in which 1400 people were killed is equivalent in scale to fifteen 9/11 attacks.
However, he warned Israel against making the same mistakes that the US made after 9/11 when many Americans were consumed with rage over what had happened.
US President Joe Biden says the October 7 Hamas onslaught in which 1,400 people were killed is equivalent in scale to fifteen 9/11 attacks.
"While we saw justice and got justice, we also made mistakes," Biden added.
In a recent update, the IDF said that one of its tanks had shelled two anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) launch positions in southern Lebanon, where the military identified an attempt to carry out an attack.
A third ATGM launch site was struck following an attack on the northern town of Metula. reported The Times of Israel.
At the same time, the IDF said that projectiles were launched from Lebanon at the contested Mount Dov area.
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