White House deletes Biden picture with US troops in Israel after criticism

File photo/AFP

The White House post of US President Joe Biden engaging with US frontline soldiers deployed in war-torn Israel got criticised for revealing the identity of troops, Fox News reported on Thursday.

However, the White House account deleted the photo soon after it was shared on social media platforms. Users slammed Biden's team for the dangerous mistake, accusing the administration of "compromising" the troops' faces while they were in Israel in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack.

Fox News reported the caption on the original White House post stated, "In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they're doing in response to the Hamas attacks."

During a U.S. Department of Defence briefing Thursday, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked to confirm if the soldiers depicted were in fact U.S. special operators and if there was a policy against taking photos of special forces.

Ryder punted to the White House, stating, "I'd have to refer you to the White House on that. I just don't have any to provide. Thank you."

Also read: Mumbai: Fuzzy numbers? Concerns rise over school dropout figures

Earlier during US President visit to Israel, following the airstrike on a hospital in Gaza, with Charge d'affaires Stephanie Hallett and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he met first responders and doctors including United Hatzalah founder Eli Beer, who treated victims of the Hamas onslaught, The Times of Israel reported.

The paramedics told Biden about treating victims of the attacks in the field.

He further lauded the heroism of Israelis, civilians who fought terrorists, medics who treated victims and reservists who left everything to save civilians' lives during the Hamas attack, The Times of Israel reported.

Biden further quoted an old poem, stating, "Too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart," though he appears to replace sacrifice with the word "suffering" to more aptly apply to the current moment.

He noted that "none of your hearts have turned to stone" and expressed his admiration for how the medical professionals expressed pride in having treated victims regardless of whether they were Jewish or Muslim, according to The Times of Israel.

The US President said that he is "convinced" that if more people know these stories of the conduct of the medical professionals, "the more they will embrace Israel. "He repeated the story that the former Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir told him that Israel's secret weapon is that the Jews have nowhere else to go.