Biden, Harris say Nasrallah’s death is ‘justice for countless victims,’ urge diplomacy
US State Department orders some employees at Beirut embassy to leave Lebanon amid escalating tensions following assassination
US President Joe Biden on Saturday welcomed Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as bringing a “measure of justice” for his many victims, but called for diplomatic agreements to end the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.
“Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror. His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians,” Biden said in a statement.
He noted that the Friday strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut that killed Nasrallah was a response to the terror group’s decision to open up a “northern front” against Israel after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
“The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups,” Biden stressed, adding that he had directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday to bolster the US military’s force posture in the Middle East in order to deter Iran from further escalation.
“Ultimately, our aim is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means,” the US president asserted, referencing the efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza and an agreement that would allow civilians in south Lebanon and northern Israel to return to their homes.
Notably, he didn’t explicitly refer to the 21-day ceasefire initiative for Lebanon that he announced on Wednesday, which has all but fallen apart.
Some reports in Hebrew media Friday had indicated there was anger in Washington at Israel for carrying out the strike that killed Nasrallah since the Americans were attempting to secure a ceasefire agreement for Lebanon.
“It is time for these deals to close, for the threats to Israel to be removed, and for the broader Middle East region to gain greater stability,” Biden concluded.
US Vice President Kamala Harris echoed Biden’s sentiment that Nasrallah’s killing brought a measure of justice for “countless innocent people in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and around the world.”
Harris added that she had an “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security and would “always support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups.”
However, she also said that she and Biden “do not want to see conflict in the Middle East escalate into a broader regional war” and were working on a diplomatic solution.
“Diplomacy remains the best path forward to protect civilians and achieve lasting stability in the region,” she argued.
US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, echoed the praise for Nasrallah’s killing, saying it ended his “reign of bloodshed, oppression, and terror,” but rejected their call for a diplomatic solution.
“A puppet of the Iranian regime, [Nasrallah] was one of the most brutal terrorists on the planet, and a coward who hid behind women and children to carry out his attacks. Thanks to the brave men and women of the Israeli military, justice was delivered for Israeli victims of his heinous crimes, their families, and the United States. The world is better off without him,” he wrote.
Johnson also called on the “Biden-Harris administration to end its counter-productive calls for a ceasefire and its ongoing diplomatic pressure campaign against Israel.”
“Nasrallah’s death is a major step forward for the Middle East, and today’s victory for peace and security should be used to reassert America’s ironclad support for Israel as it fights for its very right to exist,” he concluded.
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was on the other end of the spectrum, writing on X Saturday that the US was “funding this bloodbath,” referring to the Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon which the country’s health ministry says have killed more than 630 people since Monday.
Israel has said that many Hezbollah operatives are among the dead.
Tlaib did not mention Nasrallah’s killing but wrote that “the US government are conspirators to the war criminal Netanyahu’s genocidal plan.”
Nasrallah’s killing came at the end of an intense week of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in which the IDF killed the vast majority of the terrorist organization’s top leadership.
Following the assassination, the US Department of State ordered some employees at its embassy in Beirut and their eligible family members on Saturday to leave Lebanon amid escalating tensions.
“US Embassy Beirut personnel are restricted from personal travel without advance permission,” the State Department said in a statement. “Additional travel restrictions may be imposed on US personnel under Chief of Mission security responsibility, with little to no notice due to increased security issues or threats.”
