Biden blasts ‘brazen attack’ and backs Israel’s security
US President Joe Biden has praised American forces who he said “helped Israel take down nearly all” the drones and missiles launched by Iran on April 14.
In a statement, he said the US had moved aircraft and warships to the region before the unprecedented attack.
“I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” he added.
Israel said Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in its direction, the first time it has attacked Israel directly from its own territory.
It said the “vast majority” were intercepted, but there were a small number of hits including at an IDF base in southern Israel. At least one person was injured.
Iran earlier warned Israel that there would be “retaliations” after a strike on its consulate in Syria on April 1, which killed seven Iranian officers including a top commander. Israel has not confirmed, nor denied whether it was responsible.
“I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel,” Biden said shortly after the pair held a call.
“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks,” he added.
Biden also said he plans to convene other western leaders “to co-ordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack“.
He warned Iran against attacking any US assets, adding while Iran has not done so, America “remains vigilant to all threats“.
Biden cut short a planned visit to his home state of Delaware, travelling back to the White House to be briefed by national security officials hours before the attack.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said Biden was “in constant communication with Israeli officials, as well as other partners and allies“.
Republicans in the House of Representatives, meanwhile, said they were drafting legislation to provide more aid to Israel and sanction Iran.
Two US officials told the BBC‘s partner CBS that American warships shot down missiles headed towards Israel.
The UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) is also assisting in the region. A statement by the Ministry of Defence said British jets were ready to intercept attacks within range of the UK’s existing missions in the Middle East.
Additional help has been deployed, the UK ministry added, including more jets and air refuelling tankers.
Iran’s delegation at the UN stated Tehran earlier said “the matter can be deemed concluded” but warned it would strike again if there were reprisals by Israel or the US.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also said in a statement that “support or participation in attacking Iran’s interests will have a fierce response“.
Other nations, including the UK, France and Canada, have also condemned Iran and expressed support for Israel.
At the same time, on another side of the war…….
USAID Confirms That Gazans Are Starving to Death as Israel Refuses to Honor Commitment to Allow Aid
USAID chief Samantha Power became the highest-ranking US official to say that famine is underway in northern Gaza.
During Congressional testimony, she said an assessment from the UN-backed IPC on the situation is 'credible.' pic.twitter.com/V5QBdwfknb
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 11, 2024
The Guardian:
“A promised surge in aid into Gaza that Benjamin Netanyahu promised Joe Biden has so far failed to materialise, aid workers say, as the US aid chief confirmed that famine is beginning to take hold in parts of the besieged coastal strip.
The increase in the number of truck crossing into Gaza claimed by Israel conflicts with UN records and already appears to be faltering.
‘There is a lot less than meets the eye so far,’ said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior official in the Biden administration, who is now president of the Refugees International aid advocacy organisation. ‘Very little has actually transformed’.”
By “very little,” he of course means “almost nothing.”
Israeli officials have already made it clear they will not allow any food to get to these people. Maybe a few crumbs make it through. But one of the reasons Erdogan gave for cutting trade was that Israel refused to allow Turkey to do airdrops of food.
One of Netanyahu’s pledges to Biden, to open the Ashdod port north of Gaza as a portal to sea-borne humanitarian aid, has led to no apparent action, according to the Israel N12 channel. N12 reported that none of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat) nor the Ashdod Port authorities have so far received instructions about opening the facility to shipments bound for Gaza.
Israeli officials had been promising their US counterparts for weeks that a crossing point would be opened into northern Gaza where the starvation is the most severe. It would either be at Erez, which was the main border point before the current war, or at a new site, they informed Washington. No decision was made, however, when the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said construction had begun on a new crossing. It is not clear how long that construction work will take.
It doesn’t matter either. There are already crossings, and this is what is going on: Israeli civilians are brought in by the military to block the trucks, and then the military says it’s unsafe to open the border to let the trucks cross because there are civilians in the area.
The Grayzone did a documentary about this a few weeks ago (which didn’t really get enough attention).
Author: Andrew Anglin
yogaesoteric
April 15, 2024