US President Joe Biden has reaffirmed the country’s “ironclad” support to Israel in the face of Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory with drones and missiles. In a statement on Sunday, Biden said he would convene a G7 meeting on Monday to coordinate a “unified diplomatic response”.
“I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” Biden said. “I have just spoken with (Israeli) Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel,” he added.
Biden also elaborated that Israel was able to “take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles” with the help of the US military. “At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week. Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” he said.
In his conversation with Netanyahu, Biden also praised Israel’s “remarkable capacity” to defend against “unprecedented attacks”.
“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” Biden’s statement read.
He added, “Tomorrow, I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack. My team will engage with their counterparts across the region. And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders.”
The President also stated though they have “not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today,”, the US will “remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people.”
Iran’s attack is seen as a retaliation for a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate building in Damascus on April 2, which resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people, including two high-ranking members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
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