In news on October 4, 2024, US President Biden stated on Thursday (October 3) that he does not believe a full-scale war will break out in the Middle East, but there is still a lot of work to be done to restore peace in the region.
When asked if he believes the Middle East can avoid a full-scale war, Biden said at the White House, “I do not believe that a full-scale war will happen. I think we can avoid it.”
“But there is still a lot of things to be done, a lot of work to be done,” he added.
He also addressed the question of whether the US would send troops to help Israel, stating that the US has already assisted Israel.
“We have been assisting Israel. We will protect Israel,” Biden said.
Tensions have escalated recently between Iran and Israel, with Iran launching a large-scale ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for the deaths of leaders of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. Israel is considering what response to make.
Following the sharp escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, countries around the world are formulating emergency plans to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh stated that she would not speculate on what response Israel might make and only mentioned that the US will continue to “engage with Jerusalem” on the matter.
A US official told Reuters that the US believes Israel has not yet decided how to respond to Iran’s attacks, including whether to target Iran’s oil facilities.
The source mentioned, “As the President said, we will continue to discuss with the Israelis their response to Tuesday’s attacks. We understand that they have not yet decided on specifics of what they will do.”