US President Joe Biden said that the US military was redeploying forces in the Middle East in order to protect Israel from an expected future attack by Iran and its proxy forces, while also urging for a de-escalation of regional tensions and a ceasefire for Gaza.
The comments came after a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid growing concerns that Iran and other allied militant groups were set to retaliate for the killings this week of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from Lebanon-based Hizbollah.
Israel has claimed responsibility for the air strike that killed Shukr in south Beirut but has neither confirmed nor denied any link to the assassination of Haniyeh. The White House said Biden and Netanyahu spoke about “efforts to support Israel’s defence against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones,” which also included “new defensive US military deployments”.
The US president also reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security, yet later stressed the need for Netanyahu to seize the opportunity for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that could help lower tensions across the region. “I had a very direct meeting with the prime minister. We have the basis for a ceasefire. They should move on it and move on it now,” Biden told reporters on Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.
He added that the killing of Haniyeh had “not helped” the prospects of reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas, which mediators hope will halt the 10-month-old conflict in Gaza, release the Israeli hostages still in captivity, and avert a full-blown regional war. Haniyeh was Hamas’s main interlocutor with mediators and was pushing for compromise, according to a diplomat briefed on the talks.
Courtesy: Financial Times
