U.S. President Joe Biden has expressed hope that Iran will back down from threats of retaliation against Israel to avoid a serious war in the Middle East.
Tensions in the region have escalated after Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Iran has vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh’s death, with its representatives already escalating attacks against Israel.
Hamas and Iran both accuse Israel of carrying out the assassination, reports Sky News.
The assassination of the militant group’s leader came a day after the Israeli military claimed to have killed a senior commander of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Beirut.
As Iran continues to threaten retaliatory attacks against Israel, the U.S. president was asked if he believed there was a chance they might pull back.
Biden said, “I hope so. I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah recently fired about 50 rockets from Lebanon towards Upper Galilee.
Footage shared on social media showed Israel’s Iron Dome defense system being activated.
In a statement taking responsibility for the rocket attack, Hezbollah clarified that it was not in response to the killing of their senior commander.
The group said the barrage was in response to Israeli attacks that killed civilians in two villages in southern Lebanon.
In the statement, Hezbollah said: “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their courageous and honorable resistance, and in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on steadfast southern villages and safe homes, particularly the attacks targeting the villages of Kafr Kila and Deir Siryan and the injured civilians, the Islamic Resistance included the new settlement of Beit Hillel in its fire plan and bombarded it for the first time with dozens of Katyusha rockets.”
However, Israel has not yet commented on the attack.
Separately, before Hezbollah launched its rockets, an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City killed at least 15 people.
