On Saturday, both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released statements strongly backing the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which was carried out using US-provided 2,000-pound bombs.
President Biden said in a statement that Nasrallah’s death was “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.” The president said the US “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups.”
Biden said that he ordered Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to send additional military assets to the region. “I directed my Secretary of Defense to further enhance the defense posture of US military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war,” he said.
Biden claimed that he seeks de-escalation in the region, but his administration has continued to provide military aid and other types of support for Israel since it began its dramatic escalation in Lebanon.
Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, released a similar statement, saying that “Hezbollah’s victims have a measure of justice.” The vice president said she has an “unwavering commitment to the security of Israel.”
“I will always support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” Harris added.
Harris also claimed that the administration was working for a diplomatic solution. But the day before Nasrallah was killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a US-backed ceasefire proposal, and Israel said it secured $8.7 billion in new military aid from the US.
An Israeli official told ABC News that Israel decided to kill Nasrallah because he wouldn’t separate the situation at the Israel-Lebanon border from Gaza. Hezbollah had been clear that it would stop its attacks on northern Israel if there was a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli airstrikes that killed Nasrallah leveled several residential buildings in Beirut. The attack also killed Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Tehran is vowing his death will not go “unanswered.”
The killing of Nasrallah and other Israeli escalations in Lebanon could lead to direct US intervention since the US has vowed it would defend Israel if it faces a large-scale attack from Iran. US troops in Iraq and Syria could also come under attack from local Shia militias in response to US support for the killing of Nasrallah and the slaughtering of civilians in Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes have continued to pound Beirut and other areas of Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 33 people were killed and over 190 people were injured by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. On Sunday, the ministry said at least 21 people were killed and 47 were wounded by Israeli attacks on eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek region.
