Biden administration fears fallout from Israel’s Gaza invasion
President Joe Biden’s administration is concerned over the fallout from Israel’s looming ground invasion of Gaza, despite publicly backing the country in its war against Hamas.
While Mr Biden, 80, pledged to give the country whatever it needs to respond to the slaughter of hundreds of Israelis, the White House is concerned there is no plan for what comes next.
Mr Biden’s staunch support for Israel after the Hamas terror attacks has so far won plaudits from unlikely sources, including Republicans and George W Bush, the former president.
But the administration is pressing Tel Aviv to make a plan to follow the potential destruction of Hamas, sources told Bloomberg.
Mr Biden’s aides have not publicly questioned Israel’s response, but anxiety is understood to be building over the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza.
‘Tall order’
They were also reportedly concerned about Israel’s demand that civilians evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours, with John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, acknowledging it would be “a tall order”.
On Friday afternoon, Mr Biden said people shouldn’t “lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas”.
It comes amid concerns the war could spread across the Middle East become more fraught, with threats that Hizbollah “have their fingers on the trigger to shoot”.
Iran’s foreign minister warned from Beirut that the Lebanese terror group has scenarios “designed” and “prepared” if Israel does not stop its attacks on Gaza.
‘Earthquake in Zionist entity’
“I know about the scenarios that Hizbollah has put in place,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters. “Any step the resistance [Hizbollah] will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.”
“There is still a political opportunity to prevent a widespread crisis in the region,” Mr Amir-Abdollahian said.
‘Finger on the trigger’
But “maybe, in the next few hours, it will be too late”, he added, warning that pro-Iran militants “have designed all the scenarios and are prepared, and their finger is on the trigger to shoot”.
There have already been clashes across the northern border of Israel and Lebanon.
On Friday Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six other reporters injured by an Israeli artillery strike near the border.
‘Collective punishment’
“Concern about collective punishment and civilian casualties will loom large as Israeli operations advance to destroy Hamas,” Kori Schake, director of foreign and defence policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said.
But, she added: “I’d be surprised if the US placed any restrictions on material support to Israel, given the horrific nature of Hamas’s attack.”