Biden and Netanyahu Discussed Israel's Response to Iranian Missile Attack

(Patria) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone yesterday about Israel's plans to respond to last week's Iranian missile attack, the White House and the office of the Israeli prime minister announced.

Neither the White House nor Netanyahu's office provided details of the conversation amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, an armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, according to Radio Free Europe's English-language newsroom.

The Middle East is on edge awaiting Israel's response to Iran's largely ineffective missile attack, which Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video posted on Israeli media that Israel's response "will be deadly, precise, and above all surprising".

Biden said last week that he would not support Israel attacking Iranian nuclear facilities. He also said that if he were in Israel's place, he would consider alternative attacks instead of striking Iranian oil fields.

The U.S. and other countries are urging Israel to accept a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, but Netanyahu's government states that it will continue military operations until Israelis are safe.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller warned yesterday that Israel must avoid military operations in Lebanon similar to those it conducted in the Gaza Strip.

- I am making it clear that there should be no military action in Lebanon that resembles Gaza and has the same outcome as in Gaza - Miller told reporters.

The conversation between Biden and Netanyahu followed as Israeli forces intensified their ground offensive against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced yesterday that its fighters used artillery and rockets against Israeli troops near the Lebanese border village of Labune.

In a separate statement, the organization stated that it engaged in combat with Israeli forces as they "attempted to infiltrate the border town of Blida" in southeastern Lebanon.

The Israeli military announced early yesterday morning that it intercepted two projectiles fired from Lebanon while air raid sirens sounded in and around Caesarea, a coastal city south of Haifa.