White House confirms Biden summit in Amman cancelled

Washington, Oct 18

The White House has confirmed that the Jordan portion of US President Joe Biden's trip to the Middle East has been cancelled, media reports said.

He was supposed to hold a summit in Amman on Wednesday with the leaders of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, but Jordan announced that it was scrapping the meeting following the bombing of a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds, The Times of Israel reported.

Israel has said an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket was responsible for the blast but much of the Arab world had blamed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

A White House official in a statement said that the decision to scrap the Amman summit was made after Biden consulted with Jordan's King Abdullah "and in light of the days of mourning announced by" Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas following the hospital blast, The Times of Israel reported.

Biden sent King Abdullah "his deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded," the White House official said, being careful not to place blame on a particular party as the US works to determine who was responsible.

"Biden looks forward to consulting in person with these leaders soon, and agreed to remain regularly and directly engaged with each of them over the coming days," the White House official added.