The United States is ready to protect Israel from any attack that may come in retaliation for the wave of simultaneous detonations of hundreds of communications devices suffered by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah , which blames the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a press conference: “The capabilities we have in the region are greater than what we had on April 13, when Iran launched an attack on Israel, so we are confident in the capabilities we have there right now to protect our forces and come to Israel’s defense if necessary.”
Singh was responding to a possible escalation of tension following attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 37 people , including two children, and injured 3,200 others after hundreds of beepers and walkie talkies belonging to Hezbollah members exploded.
The Iranian-backed movement held Israel “fully responsible” for the attack and vowed “targeted retaliation” for what happened. Iran also said it reserves the right to respond legally to the attack on its ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who was lightly injured in a pager explosion on Tuesday.
“The president (Joe Biden) has been very clear that we are there to support Israel and its self-defense, should they need it ,” said Singh, who insisted that the United States “was not involved in any way” in the attacks.
The spokeswoman said the United States is concerned about the “escalation” of tensions in the region and that in recent weeks there has been “a great effort by different officials of this administration to move forward on a ceasefire agreement.”
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin commented: “We believe, ultimately, that the best way to reduce tensions in the region is through diplomatic means, and that is what the Secretary of Defense is working on.”
