Biden: Iran Threatening to Launch ‘Significant Attack’ on Israel

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Iran is threatening to launch a “significant attack on Israel,” in retaliation for strikes on a diplomatic facility in Syria that killed several Iranian military commanders, according to President Joe Biden, who promised the United States will do all it can to protect Israel.

“As I told [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” Biden told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, reports NBC News. “Let me say it again: Ironclad. We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security.”

Two U.S. officials told NBC News that any retaliation by Iran inside Israel is expected to focus on military and intelligence targets, not civilians and that the Biden administration is considering options on how to respond.

The news comes as tensions grow over an Israeli airstrike in Gaza that reportedly killed three adult sons of a top Hamas leader, who it is said were Hamas operatives, including a commander, NBC News’ Peter Alexander reports.

Hamas, however, is claiming the strike also killed four of the Hamas leader’s grandchildren.

Meanwhile, Biden on Wednesday also demanded that Hamas accept the latest cease-fire offer, which includes returning hostages seized on Oct. 7, including several Americans.

“It’s up now to Hamas,” Biden said. “They need to move on to the proposal that was made to get these hostages home, where they belong.”

U.S. officials also reported Wednesday that an attack on Israeli assets by Iran or its proxies, including Hamas or Hezbollah, may be imminent.

The airstrike in Damascus last week killed several top Iranian military officials, which included Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force who managed Iran’s paramilitary operations in Syria and Lebanon.

He was the highest-ranking Iranian military officer to be killed since January 2020, when the United States assassinated Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday on X that Israel “should be punished and it will be punished” for the attacks, as they are considered the same as if the airstrikes had hit targets on Iranian soil.