Israel prepares to invade Gaza, President Biden is expected to visit this week

Jordan cancels summit with Biden as tensions Israel-Hamas wars ‘pushing the region to the brink’

President Biden was slated to meet with Middle Eastern leaders Wednesday, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II in a four-wat summit to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas. Jordan canceled the meeting Tuesday over escalating tensions in Gaza. (AP))

Jordan has canceled a meeting slated for Wednesday with President Biden and other regional leaders in protest over an airstrike that hit a hospital in Gaza and reportedly killed hundreds of people.

Earlier Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas canceled his participation in a meeting with Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s president set for Wednesday in Amman, Jordan to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas.

Later, Jordan’s foreign minister told state-run television that his country had canceled the summit, saying that the war between Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink.” He said the meeting would be postponed.

Hamas has blamed Israeli military for the Tuesday airstrike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. The Hamas Health Ministry said at least 500 people were killed.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it investigated the incident and determined it to be a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad, a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas.

Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad is funded and supported by Iran.

The rocket was fired from Gaza and was in close proximity to the hospital at the time it was hit, the IDF said. Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday to speak with Israeli leaders in a show of support.

He was slated to meet with Middle Eastern leaders on the same day as the war continues to escalate daily.

Biden departed Washington Tuesday afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.