Israel-Iran latest: Biden says Israeli strikes on Iranian oil being discussed as 9 killed in hit on Beirut
Joe Biden has said Israeli strikes on Iranian oil are being discussed.
When reporters asked the US president whether he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities as he left the White House on Thursday, Biden said, “We are discussing that,” reportedly causing a spike in the price of oil.
Biden previously stated the US would not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, following Tehran’s missile attack on Israel.
Meanwhile, at least nine people were killed after Israel launched an airstrike on Beirut, targeting a building near the parliament, in what was the closest an air assault has come to the central downtown district.
Lebanese health officials said 14 people were also wounded, while multiple blasts have been heard across the southern suburbs on Thursday.
It comes after Israel suffered its first military casualties in its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, with eight Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers killed in intense fighting against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah confirmed it was engaged in clashes with Israeli forces, claiming to have destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks.
The Israeli military fired at a Lebanese army post in southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing a Lebanese soldier, with the Lebanese army reportedly firing back for the first time since last October because the post was hit.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Iran’s “Axis of Evil”.
