US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed.
Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.”
Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of retaliation for an attack on Iran’s embassy compound last week in Damascus that killed a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force and six other officers.
Countries including India, France, Poland and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
Germany on Friday called on its citizens to leave Iran.
Israel did not claim responsibility for the airstrike on April 1, but Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel “must be punished and shall be” for an operation he said was equivalent to an attack on Iranian soil.
Earlier, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the reportedly imminent attack by Iran on Israel was a real and viable threat, but gave no details about any possible timing.
Kirby said that the US was looking at its own force posture in the region in light of Tehran’s threat and was watching the situation very closely.
Meanwhile, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed into a Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, shooting and setting houses and vehicles on fire.
The rampage resulted in the death of a Palestinian man and 25 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said.
The killing came after an Israeli raid overnight killed two Palestinians, including a Hamas militant, in confrontation with Israeli forces.
An Israeli rights group said the settlers were searching for a missing 14-year-old boy from their settlement. After the rampage, Israeli troops said they were still searching for the teen.
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said that settlers stormed into the village of al-Mughayyir late on Friday, searching for the Israeli boy.
Videos posted to X by the rights group showed dark clouds of smoke billowing from burning vehicles as gunshots rang out.
A photograph posted by the group showed what appeared to be a crowd of masked settlers.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said eight of the injured were hit by live fire.
The slain man was later identified by his family as 26-year-old Jehad Abu Alia.
His father, Afif Abu Alia, said he was shot and killed, but was unsure whether the fatal bullet was fired by an armed settler or an Israeli soldier.
“My son went with others to defend our land and honor, and this is what happened,” Abu Alia said from a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where his son’s body had been transported.
The Israeli army said it was searching for the missing Israeli teen, and that forces had opened fire when stones were hurled at soldiers by Palestinians.
It said “hits were identified,” and soldiers also cleared out Israeli settlers from the village.
“As of this moment, the violent riots have been dispersed and there are no Israeli civilians present within the town,” it said.
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