Biden cancels Colorado visit, fuelling speculation of Israel trip
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WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden abruptly cancelled plans for a trip on Monday to Colorado, the White House announced, fuelling speculation that he will soon go to Israel in a show of support as it wages war against Hamas.
Mr Biden has been invited to Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN, adding that he had no travel plans to announce for now.
Mr Biden, 80, had been due to travel to Colorado to visit a wind turbine manufacturing plant where he was to tout the economic revival and pro-environmental messages at the core of his 2024 reelection campaign.
The trip, cancelled at the last minute, will be rescheduled, the White House said.
Mr Biden will instead stay in Washington to attend national security meetings, the White House said in a short statement, as several media outlets report he might travel to Israel this week.
Mr Biden will “stay focused on what’s going on between Israel and Hamas,” Mr Kirby said.
Several news outlets including Axios and CNN have reported that US and Israeli officials are discussing a possible Biden trip to Israel.
Mr Biden has repeatedly pledged strong support for close US ally Israel as it retaliates against the Hamas attack from Gaza.
He visited another war zone – Ukraine – in a high risk trip in February that was prepared in total secrecy.
He last visited Israel in July 2022.
Mr Kirby also told CNN that he hopes the Rafah crossing at Gaza’s border with Egypt can be opened for a few hours later on Monday to allow some people to leave Gaza before an expected Israeli ground offensive.
“Right now it’s still closed,” Mr Kirby said. “We’re hoping, hoping, that sometime later today, it can be open for a period of hours. But again, we just have to kind of wait and see how this goes,” he said, noting that hopes of the crossing being open over the weekend “were dashed”.
“We’re going to keep working at this very, very hard,” Mr Kirby added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is back in Israel
The United States had told its citizens in Gaza to go to the crossing
