[quote] Mika seems a bit harried today.

Of course. Biden's spectacular Middle East visit photo op has collapsed around his ears. Her script had been to sing hosannas to the strong and not all too old peacemaker bringing hope to the region.

President Joe Biden's day-trip to the Middle East was organized in a flash. It fell apart just as quickly, in the blinding blast of an explosion in Gaza that killed hundreds of people at a hospital.

Even before he was in the air from Washington, the second prong of the president's regional visit — the short hop from Israel to Jordan for meetings with Arab leaders —was off.

The result was an American president being pictured with a hardline Israeli president, pointing the finger at Palestinian groups for the latest atrocity.

Officials said Biden arrived with three goals: To stand with Israel, to help ease humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and to deter outside actors (Iran and its armed proxies) from becoming more deeply involved.

All many in the region will remember is how Biden embraced Netanyahu.

You know, with all due respect, I see that President Biden cares only about one thing, which is to be re-elected and that's why he's taking the side of Israel,' is how Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian National Initiative leader and far from a hardliner, put it.

It was not supposed to be like this. White House officials mulled for days whether a visit was a risk worth taking in the wake of the Hamas terror attacks that killed more than 1,300 people.

Abbas announced the four-way Arab summit with Biden was off, an extraordinary snub by leaders who are the beneficiaries of billions of dollars of U.S. aid.

Not for the first time, events had got in the way of a carefully laid plan. Rather than pouring oil on troubled waters, there was now a danger Biden's visit was gasoline on the fire.

Richard Gowan, U.N. director at International Crisis Group, told Reuters: 'Biden's visit was meant to underline that the U.S. has a grip on the situation. A tragic incident like this shows how hard it is to keep the war in check.'

Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team not you,' he told Netanyahu. 'But there's a lot of people out there who are not sure.

'We've got to overcome a lot of things.'

His words were quickly seen as an example of an American president falling into line behind Israel, at the expense of the Palestinian people.