Joe Biden believes the pending Israeli incursion into Lebanon is unnecessary because the death of Hezbollah’s leader has weakened the terror group enough.
When asked about the operation, which is said to be “imminent”, the US president called for an immediate ceasefire.
“I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now,” he said when a reporter asked whether he was “comfortable” with Israel’s plans.
Over the weekend, both Israel and the US confirmed that Hassan Nezrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Mr Biden said his assassination was a “measure of justice” for the Lebanon-based terror group’s victims, including Americans.
But behind closed doors, the President hoped the high-profile killing would set into motion a peace process, rather than further military activity.
Aides had told him that Hezbollah had been so decimated that their ability to attack Israel had been significantly limited.
This meant US-led proposals for a 21-day ceasefire were still possible, despite previously being ruled out by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, they said.
Instead, Israel appears poised to launch a ground offensive into Lebanon, which the US has previously warned could spark a wider conflict across the Middle East and cause untold amounts of casualties.
