President Joe Biden read pre-prepared notes from a script as he held talks with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, before getting distracted and rambling.
In a bumbling remarks in front of the press, which are bound to raise fresh questions about the US leader's mental state, Biden said he was "delighted" to be in the war zone and struggled to stay on topic.
The US President ummed and ahed his way through the remarks while Netanyahu listened on.
Speaking in front of the cameras just hours after touching down in Tel Aviv, Biden read out remarks which were written down on a sheet of paper for him.
Joe Biden read notes from a pre-prepared script
REUTERS
The US President met with Benjamin Netanyahu to reaffirm the US's support for Israel
REUTERS
The longer he spoke, the more he started to drift from the script and start going off on a tangent.
In one moment he started to tell an anecdote before appearing to lose interest in his own story.
He said: "You know, years ago I asked the Secretary of State when he and I were working in the Senate, to arrange something for me and he said - you know why I think it's appropriate - he said, 'it's not... we need... it's not just...' well, I won't go into it.
"Maybe later. It's taking too much time."
The US President's visit to the Middle East was painted as a bid by Biden to try and broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.
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Joe Biden rambled as he went off on a tangent
REUTERS
He praised the "truly stunning" bravery and courage of Israel in the aftermath of Hamas's terror attacks and vowed to support the country its fight to defend itself.
He also blamed Hamas for an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip yesterday.
There have been conflicting reports as to who was behind the missile attack that led to hundreds of civilians being killed.
"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 a lot — we’ve got to overcome a lot of things," Biden said.
Benjamin Netanyahu thanks Joe Biden for the first visit to Israel 'by an American president during a time of war'
REUTERS
Israel says the blast was caused by a Palestinian rocket that fell short.
Hamas denies the claims and has blamed Tel Aviv for the fatalities.
Giving his thanks to the US's support, Benjamin Netanyahu said Biden's visit was the first to Israel “by an American president during a time of war.”
He praised America's "steadfast commitment to provide us with the tools we need to defend ourselves".
