US President Joe Biden said Sunday he would be talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as tensions in the Middle East rise following Israel's assassination of Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah.
"Yes, I will be talking to him," Biden said on Sunday as he headed to the White House from Dover Air Force Base.
He added, "we really have to avoid" all-out war in the Middle East, saying, "We've already taken precautions relative to our embassies and personnel who want to leave, but we're not there yet. But we're working like hell with the French and many others."
The US backed Israel's operation, saying that Hassan Nasrallah's death "is a measure of justice for his many victims."
``Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, killed hundreds of Americans over four decades of terror. His death at the hands of an Israeli airstrike is one measure of justice to his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians."
It further continued its statement, "The strike that killed Nasrallah took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas's massacre on October 7, 2023. Nasrallah, the following day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a 'northern front' against Israel."
Netanyahu had warned the Ayatollah regime in Iran following Nasrallah's death stating that those who threaten Israel will be made to pay the price and no place in Iran or the Middle East remains inaccessible to Israel.
He called Nasrallah "the main engine of Iran's axis of evil" and further said, "Nasrallah was not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist. He was the axis of the axis, the main engine of Iran's axis of evil. He and his people were the architects of the plan to destroy Israel. He was not only operated by Iran, he also frequently operated Iran."
In its strongest words yet, the US President spoke, where Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday.
Israeli strikes that the Iran-backed Hezbollah said included the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah, are meant to undercut the group's capacity to attack its territory.
The US President's comments come as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday.
Israeli strikes that the Iran-backed Hezbollah said included the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah, are meant to undercut the group's capacity to attack its territory.
Before Nasrallah's murder, Netanyahu rebuffed a U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire proposal calling for a 21-day tussle-free period along the Israel-Lebanon border, infuriating U.S. officials, who were led to believe he would approve it.
Israel only informed the U.S. it was unleashing its major operation in Beirut after the attack had started, infuriating some of the U.S. officials once again.
Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have been uprooted along the Israel-Lebanon border as Hezbollah has launched nearly-daily rocket volleys against Israel for the past 11 months, and Israelis have returned fire.
Already at odds with Netanyahu over the near-yearlong war in Gaza, Biden is working now to calm two fronts of confrontation at a moment when his influence over Netanyahu's calculus seems at an all-time low.
The Biden administration has sought to bring about a negotiated resolution to the nearly yearlong war, which would permit tens of thousands of civilians on both sides to return home and prevent a wider regional conflict.
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