US President Joe Biden confirms that humanitarian aid will be sent to Gaza via Egypt | SBS News

United States President Joe Biden has pledged solidarity with Israel and said a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital seemed to have been caused by a rocket misfired by militants as he ended a Middle East peace mission that was curtailed by the explosion.

Raising fears of wider instability, protesters staged anti-Israeli demonstrations around the Middle East over the fireball that engulfed the al-Ahli Arab Hospital late on Tuesday, which Palestinian officials said killed 471 people.

Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, which has gained power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006. Its stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel's right to exist.

Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. New Zealand and Paraguay list only its military wing as a terrorist group. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly voted against a resolution condemning Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation.

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