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For updates on President Biden's visit, follow 

President Biden spoke of his belief in a framework that would resolve the conflict by establishing Israel and Palestine as separate states. The president spent the day with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as families of victims of Hamas violence, affirming U.S. support for the country's security as it prepares to launch an attack on Hamas.

a catastrophic blast at a hospital in the Gaza Strip

, which sparked outrage across the Middle East.

Here's what you should know about Biden's visit.

Biden has been originally scheduled to carry on to Amman after Tel Aviv to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The purpose was to discuss efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza — something that has become a growing concern as the territory runs out of food, water and medical supplies. Civilians — including American citizens in Gaza — have been unable to leave through the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

 killed hundreds of people. Palestinian authorities accused Israel, while Israel said a Palestinian militant group was responsible.

Abbas cancelled his meeting with Biden, and called for three days of mourning. Biden said he would postpone the visit after he talked to King Abdullah.

Sitting beside Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Biden said he was "deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion."

"Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team — not you — but there's a lot of people out there not sure, so we've got to overcome a lot of things," Biden said.

What does Biden hope to accomplish in Tel Aviv?

Biden has taken a strong pro-Israel stance after the Hamas attacks, saying that it was the most deadly attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust, and that Israel has a right to defend itself. Kirby said 31 U.S. citizens were among the dead and 13 Americans remain unaccounted for.

Biden wants to get an update from Israeli military officials on their strategy and the pace of their operations when he meets with Netanyahu and his war cabinet, Kirby said. The trip comes as Israel prepares for a ground offensive in Gaza, and Biden wants to learn more about the objectives and plans for coming days and weeks, Kirby said.

"He'll be asking some tough questions - he'll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel but he'll be asking some questions of them," Kirby said.

At the same time, Biden has pledged support for Israel in its war against Hamas, and is expected to ask 

 later this week to provide funding for additional military aid to Israel.

Biden also hopes to get more information about efforts to locate and free hostages taken during the attacks, a handful of whom are believed to be American citizens. Biden will meet with people who lost loved ones during the attacks, as well as first responders, Kirby said.

What about humanitarian aid for people in Gaza?

Biden's team has been pressing Israel and Egypt to allow food, water and medicine into Gaza — and to let civilians out. On the way to Tel Aviv, Kirby expressed some optimism that could happen soon.

The Rafah crossing is effectively the only option for Palestinians to leave Gaza, and for any aid to come in. Food, water and medicine are already extremely scarce in Gaza, and the dire conditions have worsened in the last week. Hospitals are 

 and are struggling to treat the thousands of injured, many of whom are children.

In the meantime, there are reports that Israel has been 

 the Rafah crossing region, damaging many of the roads, which makes it unclear how the aid will be distributed even if the Rafah crossing is opened.

The White House is providing less public information about the trip than usual because of the risks of traveling to the region right now. During Blinken's visit to Tel Aviv, sirens went off as a warning of new rocket attacks, and the secretary was 

But Biden has visited war zones before, including a 

 in February. That travel wasn't revealed until the president was on the ground in Kyiv.

Kirby has said Tel Aviv is not being actively targeted in the same way that Kyiv was at the time of Biden's visit. 

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Deepa Shivaram

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Tamara Keith

President Joe Biden is in Tel Aviv on Wednesday as Israel gets ready for a ground invasion against Hamas in Gaza. But after a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital, Biden canceled plans to go to Jordan.

What you need to know about Biden's wartime trip to Israel

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