US President Joe Biden on Friday told reporters at the White House that he expects Iran to attack Israel “sooner than later”. “I don’t want to get into secure information but my expectation is sooner than later,” Biden was quoted as saying by CNN. When asked what message he would like to send Iran at this moment, Biden said: “Don’t”.
Biden also said that the US remains devoted to the defence of Israel, as was evidenced by US moving additional defence assets to West Asia after Lebanese group Hezbollah said it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions Friday.
“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel, we will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden said.
The Hezbollah missile attack was in response to Israeli strikes in the south, the Iran-backed Lebanese group said.
The US has been on high alert for a significant Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel in recent days as fears grow of a wider regional war.
There remains a “real,” “credible” and “viable” threat of Iran launching strikes, the White House said Friday, following Israel’s attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria last week that killed three Iranian generals.
The Israeli army said “approximately 40 launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory, some of which were intercepted”.
“No injuries were reported,” it said, adding that it had earlier intercepted two Hezbollah attack drones that had crossed from Lebanon.
Lebanon and Israel are technically at war since the creation of the latter and have abided by the general ceasefire agreement since the 2006 Lebanon war.
The violence has so far killed at least 363 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 70 civilians, according to a tally by news agency AFP.
In Israel, the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes on both sides of the border.
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