President Biden gave an emphatic answer when asked if he was comfortable with Israel’s plan as the U.S. ally masses forces on the border with Lebanon, and it stopped well short of an endorsement.
Biden got asked Monday at the White House if he was ‘comfortable’ with what is being called a limited invasion. His answer took that word and instead called on Israel to hold back.
‘I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now,’ Biden said.
It came hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ‘diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East.’
He took the question at the White House Monday despite saying he wanted to stick with the subject of recovery from Hurricane Helene.
His comments follow reports that Israel is planning a limited ground operation into Lebanon, after a series of withering strikes targeting Hezbollah leadership and weapons, even as it masses forces on the border.
Blinken also said the U.S. ‘will continue to work with our partners in the region and around the world to advance a diplomatic resolution that provides real security to Israel to Lebanon,’ even while justifying the Israeli air strike that took out ‘brutal terrorist’ Hasan Nasrallah by targeting Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in Beruit.
A U.S. official told the Washington Post Israel is planning a ‘limited’ ground operation and it could start immediately.
Israeli Defense Forces were already carrying out cross border raids Monday.
Such a ‘limited’ invasion would appear to stop short of Israel’s 2006 war against Hamas in Lebanon. It comes days after Israel took out longtime Hezbollah leader, and signal a plan stopping far short of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
U.S. officials publicly and privately urged restraint before Israel invaded Rafah in southern Gaza, and has urged restraint at other junctures while pushing for a cease fire and a release of hostages Hamaz seized during its brutal October 7 attack inside Isreal.
Biden on Saturday called Nasrallah’s death a ‘a measure of justice’ for his victims. Asked then whether an Israeli invasion was inevitable, Biden responded by saying ‘It’s time for a ceasefire.’
U.S. diplomats are hurrying to assist U.S. citizens seeking to get out of Beirut.
The embassy posted on X Monday that it is coordinating with airlines to help U.S. citizens leave after a series of airstrikes.
Israel’s latest aerial campaign has killed more than 1,000 people, with at least 100,000 crossing over into war-torn Syria to avoid the bombardment, with makeshift shelters in the capital desperately overcrowded, according to the UNHCR.
Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, met with troops near the Lebanese border today, insisting Israel would ‘use all the abilities we have’ to ensure the return of some 60,000 Israelis displaced from the north by nearly a year of border clashes.
He added that ‘everything that needs to be done – will be done’ and that ‘we will use all the forces from the air, sea and land’.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile issued a stark warning to the Iranian regime, now threatening retaliation for the attacks on Hezbollah, claiming ‘there is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach’.