[ad_1]
As Iran launched a massive barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel on Tuesday, President Biden’s hopes of ending the war in Gaza before leaving office and holding off a wider regional war in the Middle East seemed dimmer than ever. The attack from Iran came after Israel had expanded its war against Iran’s proxies in the region, launching a brazen series of assaults to dismantle Hezbollah’s leadership on its northern border and hitting Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen.
Now, Biden’s caught between his promise to bring the war in Gaza to an end, and continuing to support Israel’s defense in an escalating conflict on another front.
The President spent much of Tuesday in the Situation Room, the cramped, wood paneled command center in the basement of the West Wing, as U.S. intelligence came in that Iran was preparing to launch a missile attack on Israel in retaliation for the death of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general.
Biden ordered that the U.S. military help Israel defend itself from Iran. As Israelis scrambled to bomb shelters, Israel and U.S. forces were able to largely intercept the volley of nearly 200 missiles. “The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” Biden told reporters in the White House on Tuesday afternoon. “Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.”
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the attack as a “significant escalation by Iran.” The escalations are likely to continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iran “made a big mistake” and “will pay for it.”
Here’s the events that led up to Iran’s most recent bombing campaign against Israel.
No ceasefire deal in Gaza
Since Hamas’s gruesome massacre inside southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed, the Biden administration has tried to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas that would bring home the scores of hostages still held in Gaza….
[ad_2]
