Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.— The Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah was a “measure of justice” for the victims of a four-decade “reign of terror,” President Joe Biden declared Saturday.
These statements came after the Lebanese group Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that Nasrallah, one of its founders, had been killed the previous day in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.
Biden noted that the operation to take down Nasrallah took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with the massacre of Israelis by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
“Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join Hamas and open what he called a ‘northern front’ against Israel,” Biden said in a statement.
He also noted that Hezbollah, under Nasrallah, has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese.
Hezbollah attacks against US interests include the truck bombing of the US embassy and multinational forces headquarters in Beirut in 1983 and the kidnapping of the Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Beirut, who died while in custody. captive. According to the United States, Hezbollah leaders armed and trained militias that carried out attacks against American forces during the Iraq War.
The White House considers Nasrallah’s death a serious blow to the group. At the same time, the administration has tried to proceed cautiously to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas, which, like Hezbollah, is supported by Iran, from erupting into a full-blown regional conflict.
The White House and Pentagon rushed on Friday, shortly after the attack, to say publicly that Israel had not warned them of the operation.
“President Biden and I do not want the conflict in the Middle East to escalate into a broader regional war,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement Saturday that echoed Biden’s description of a “measure of justice.” . He added: “Diplomacy remains the best path to protect civilians and achieve lasting stability in the region.”
The confirmation of Nasrallah’s death comes in a week in which Biden’s top national security advisers worked outside the UN General Assembly to build support for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, with the hope of giving new impetus to the stalled efforts to achieve a truce in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech Friday to the United Nations, vowing to maintain operations against Hezbollah until tens of thousands of Israeli citizens displaced by rocket attacks can return to their homes. Shortly afterward, Israel carried out the attack that killed Nasrallah.
Biden reiterated on Saturday that he wants a ceasefire both in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah.
“It is time for these agreements to be closed, for the threats to Israel to disappear, and for the Middle East region as a whole to become more stable,” Biden declared.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of supporting the massacre that killed Nasrallah and dozens of others.
“The world community will not forget that the order for the terrorist attack was issued from New York and the Americans cannot exonerate themselves from their complicity with the Zionists,” Pezeshkian said in a statement read on Iranian state television.
The State Department on Saturday ordered the departure of the families of American diplomats who are not employed by the embassy in Beirut and authorized the departure of those who are, as well as non-essential employees, due to “the volatile e unpredictable security situation” in the Lebanese capital.
The State Department has previously advised U.S. citizens to consider leaving Lebanon and has reiterated its warning against all travel to the country.
“Due to increased volatility following the airstrikes inside Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon, the US Embassy urges US citizens to leave Lebanon while trade options remain available,” it said. the department in a statement Saturday.
The State Department routinely orders or authorizes the departure of non-essential embassy staff and diplomats’ families when security conditions deteriorate in the country where they are stationed.
An orderly departure is not technically an evacuation, but it forces those affected to leave. An authorized exit allows those affected to leave the country voluntarily at the Government’s expense.
Biden, who was spending the weekend at his vacation home in Delaware, and Harris, who was campaigning in California, held a call with national security advisers on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Middle East.
In a brief exchange with reporters outside church on Saturday, Biden did not directly respond to questions about a possible escalation of the conflict.
“It’s time for a ceasefire,” he said.
On Friday, the president directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust, as necessary, the posture of U.S. forces in the region to strengthen deterrence, ensure force protection, and support all U.S. objectives.
He called for the assessment after the Pentagon announced earlier this week that it was sending an unknown number of additional U.S. troops to the region due to rising tensions.
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