Joe Biden cautions Israelis to not be 'consumed by rage' like US after 9/11

"I caution this while you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice we also made mistakes," Joe Biden said on a visit to Tel Aviv.

Biden earlier defended Israel and told PM Benjamin Netanyahu that the blast at a hospital in Gaza “appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”

“The point is, is that I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” he told Netanyahu after his arrival in Israel on Wednesday as quoted by CNN.

Earlier in a post, Biden said, "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. Immediately upon hearing this news, I spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and have directed my 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," he said.

The Israeli military said that the killing of hundreds of people at a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in Gaza.

Palestinian media reported that at least 500 people were killed in the "Israeli airstrikes," while the Palestinian Authority announced three days of mourning, reported Xinhua news agency.

Earlier, local eyewitnesses told Xinhua that a rocket hit the hospital, sending a huge explosion through its premises.

They rushed to the place a few minutes later and saw hundreds of killed people on the ground, sources told Xinhua.

According to the Gaza-based Health Ministry, the hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded and sheltering thousands of displaced civilians who were forced to flee their homes due to constant Israeli attacks.