The United States aided in the defense of Israel against almost 200 ballistic missiles fired by Iran on Tuesday, a State Department official said shortly after the attack.
During the State Department’s daily press briefing, spokesperson Matthew Miller said the attack started around 12:30 ET, against multiple targets in Israel. He confirmed the initial attack was over.
“The United States once again came to Israel’s defense against these attacks just as we participated in Israel’s defense when Iran launched its April 13 attack,” Miller said.
No civilian casualties were reported in Israel from the missile strike, he said. There was a report of a Palestinian who died in the West Bank.
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other members of the president’s national security team monitored the attack as it was unfolding, Miller said.
Miller emphasized that the United States’ support of Israel is “ironclad.”
Israel’s response to this attack
Miller would not comment on what Israel’s response to the attack could or should be, but did say there “must be consequences.”
The United States will be working with its counterparts in Israel and other partners to decide what the response should be.
Miller also defended Israel’s actions leading up to the attack by Iran, including the ground assault on Lebanon.
“While there are certainly steps that Israel takes with which we do not agree and we have been quite clear about that, we do support them taking out the leaders of a terrorist organization, we support them degrading a terrorist organization,” Miller said.
The status of American citizens in Israel and Lebanon
All State Department personnel in Israel have been accounted for. The embassy in Israel did send all employees home to shelter during the attack.
Around 6,000 American citizens in Lebanon have registered with the State Department for information, not all of them are want to leave the country, Miller said.
The airport in Lebanon is still open. The State Department is working with airlines to add additional flights with more seats for American citizens leaving the country.
Threat of full-scale regional war in the Middle East
According to Miller, preventing the outbreak of a full-scale regional war in the Middle East is one the State Department’s priorities and has been since the attacks on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7.
There have been multiple times in the past 12 months where it seemed such a war would break out, but so far the U.S. has been able to prevent it, Miller said.
One of those times was Iran’s attack on Israel on April 13.
Miller said the outbreak of full-scale regional war was immediately identified as a risk after Iran’s attack Tuesday.