In Israel on Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with first responders and families of victims and hostages.

Biden spoke with a pediatric physician who moved from New York to Israel eight years ago. She said she "never could have prepared" for the mass casualty event she experienced following the attacks and described for the president the wounded children and soldiers she treated.

One first responder was overcome with emotion as he recounted the atrocities the Hamas militants inflicted on women and children.

Biden also met with a woman who lost two of her family members in the attacks. The woman said one of her killed relatives was an American citizen.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez

President Joe Biden on Wednesday vowed U.S. support for Israel as members of his administration began a larger meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet.

"In the wake of Hamas' appalling terrorist assault -- brutal, inhumane, almost beyond belief what they did, this cabinet came together and standing strong, standing united and I want you to know you are not alone," Biden said in Tel Aviv.

He added, "You are not alone. As I emphasized earlier, we will continue to have Israel's back, as you work to defend your people. We'll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians."

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky

Appealing for peace in the Holy Land, Pope Francis expressed concern at the end of his weekly public audience in the Vatican for the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“Also today our thoughts go to Israel and Palestine. Casualties are rising and the situation in Gaza is desperate,” he said on Wednesday, speaking in Italian. “Please do everything possible to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.”

He added, "Disturbing is the possible widening of the conflict, while in the world so many war fronts are already open. Silence the guns! Let the cry for peace of peoples, of people, of children be heard! Brothers and sisters, war does not solve any problem, it only sows death and destruction, increases hatred and multiplies revenge. War erases the future. I urge believers to take only one side in this conflict: that of peace; but not with words, with prayer, with total dedication."

He also called on all parties to lay down their weapons and all Christians to pray and fast on Oct. 27, calling it “a day of fasting and prayer, of penance.”

-ABC News' Phoebe Natanson

During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the deadly hospital explosion in Gaza, and seemed to determine that Israel was not to blame, saying it was “done by the other team.”

“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday. And 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're gonna have to overcome a lot of things.”

That assessment from Biden seems to have evolved quickly and in only a matter of hours. In his statement just last night, the president said his national security team would “continue gathering information about what exactly happened.”

Biden opened his remarks saying he was in the country to tell Israelis and the world “to know where the United States stands” and that “Americans are grieving with you” and worried because “this is not an easy field to navigate.”

Biden also said he was going to “make sure” that Israel continues to receive the defense assistance it needs to defend themselves during this time and added that Hamas “does not represent all the Palestinian people” and has “brought them only suffering.”

He also briefly discussed the need for humanitarian aid for Gaza to help Palestinians “who are innocent, caught in the middle of this” as Netanyahu thanked Biden for the “unequivocal” support for Israel, saying it mirrors the “overwhelming will of the American people.”

“I've seen your support every day and the depth and breadth of cooperation that we have had since the beginning of this war. A level of cooperation that is truly unprecedented in the history of the great alliance between our two nations,” Netanyahu said.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez

It’s not money that people in the Gaza Strip need right now, but rather food, water, medicine and other basic necessities, according to a humanitarian worker there.

"If we have money, we can’t buy anything. There's nothing to buy in the stores, it’s empty shelves," Omar Alnajjar, project manager for nonprofit Save Your Future, told ABC News in a telephone interview from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

As Israeli forces continue to bomb "terror targets" in Gaza in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack carried out by the Hamas militant group that governs the territory, an estimated 1 million people are displaced there, including over 520,000 people staying in "emergency shelters in increasingly dire conditions," according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

That's why it's crucial Egypt allows humanitarian aid convoys parked at its northwestern border with Gaza to cross into the war-torn territory and deliver the lifesaving supplies as soon as possible, Alnajjar said. But as of Friday afternoon, the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing remains closed.

"People are just waiting," he added.

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman and Morgan Winsor