Israel-Iran Tensions: “I don’t want to get into secure information but my expectation is sooner than later,” Biden told reporters after an event.
US President Joe Biden expects an attack from Iran will happen “sooner than later,” he told reporters at the White House Friday.
“I don’t want to get into secure information but my expectation is sooner than later,” Biden said when asked how imminent an attack on Israel was.
Asked what his message to Tehran is right now, the president said “Don’t.”
In response to more shouted questions from reporters asking if American troops were at risk, Biden returned to the podium and said that the United States is “devoted” to the defense of Israel.
“We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden said.
The United States says it is on high alert for a significant Iranian retaliatory attack following Israel’s deadly strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus last week, raising fears of a wider regional war. There remains a “real,” “credible” and “viable” threat of Iran launching strikes, the White House said earlier Friday.
US will attempt to intercept launches at Israel, US officials say
US Navy forces in the Red Sea have previously intercepted long-range missiles launched from the Houthis in Yemen toward Israel. US forces in Iraq and Syria could also potentially intercept drones and rockets targeting northern Israel, depending on the location from which they’re launched.
Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command, has been in Israel meeting with the country’s security leadership. On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, met with Kurilla.
There have been a number of conversations where US officials have urged Israel not to escalate the situation in retaliating against Iran, according to one of the US officials.
Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers stormed a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to several homes and cars in one of the largest attacks by settlers this year, according to Palestinian officials.
At least one Palestinian man was killed when shots were fired by Israeli settlers in the village of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, according to the head of the village council Amin Abu-Alia. He said he identified the killed Palestinian as his 26-year-old relative named Jihad Abu-Alia, who was meant to get married this summer.
At least 25 others were injured in the rampage, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, the scale of which has not been seen since hundreds of settlers stormed through the villages of Turmusayya and Huwara in two separate incidents last year.
Between 1,000 and 1,200 settlers surrounded the village, and around 500 stormed it just after noon local time on Friday, blocking all the roads in the area.He added that Israeli security forces informed Palestinian officials that the settlers were looking for a 14-year-old Israeli boy who had gone missing earlier in the day.
