Biden to arrive today to ward off Iranian attack
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US President Joe Biden is set to land in Israel on Wednesday to send a strong message to Iran not to attack the Jewish state and to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against re-occupying Gaza during the ongoing military campaign to topple Hamas.
“On Wednesday, I’ll travel to Israel to stand in solidarity in the face of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack,” Biden said on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been in the region since last Thursday, said Biden will emphasize that “Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists, and to prevent future attacks.”
Biden will arrive on the 11th day of the Gaza War, which began on October 7,
when Hamas assaulted southern Israel killing over 1,400 civilians and soldiers and taking some 200 people hostage.
Some 29 Americans are among the dead, and other US citizens are among the hostages.
For Biden, a long-time Christian Zionist who was raised on preventing a second Holocaust, the visit to Israel in its time of peril is deeply personal. It is also a reflection of the alignment of American and Israeli regional interests, particularly with respect to preventing a regional war and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Biden will underscore our crystal-clear message to any actor, state or non-state, trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel: Don’t. To that end, he’s deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region,” Blinken told reporters in detailing the purpose of the trip.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide of Palestinians and said it must stop immediately, state TV reported on Tuesday.
A senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) also warned of further action by Tehran-backed militant groups against Israel if it