Biden reaffirms US support for Israel amid Iran’s missile attack

Joe Biden has reaffirmed US support for Israel after Iran's ballistic missile attacks, describing the barrage as "defeated and ineffective" and ordering the US military to aid Israel's defense against any future assaults.

"The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is a testament to Israeli military capability and the US military," the US president told reporters on Tuesday after Tehran launched an unprecedented salvo of 180 high-speed ballistic missiles.

US destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea destroyed several Iranian missiles, US defense officials said. Vessels currently in the region include the USS Arleigh Burke, USS Cole and USS Bulkeley. Additional destroyers are in the Red Sea.

"Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel," Biden said.

Initial reports suggested that Israeli air defenses intercepted many of the incoming missiles, although some landed in central and southern Israel, and at least one man was killed in the West Bank by a missile that fell near the town of Jericho.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the missile attack was conducted in retaliation for Israel's killings of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian Revolutionary Guard deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan.

The White House National Security Council said that Biden and Kamala Harris were monitoring the Iranian attack on Israel from the White House situation room and were receiving regular updates from their national security team.

Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan hailed the response to the attack, which he described as "defeated and ineffective".

But before the missile barrage had even ended, Donald Trump took to his own social media platform, Truth Social, to describe the current conflict in the Middle East as "totally preventable" and claim it would never have happened if he were president.

In a lengthy statement, the former president and current Republican nominee attacked Biden and Harris, saying the world was "spiraling out of control" and asserting that the US had "no leadership" and "no one running the country".

"When I was President, Iran was in total check," Trump added. "They were starved for cash, fully contained, and desperate to make a deal."

It remains unclear how the escalating tensions in the Middle East will play into the US election on 5 November.

Iran's attack on Israel comes just hours before the highly anticipated US vice-presidential debate on Tuesday night, 38 days from the US presidential election, and as the conflict in the Middle East appears to continue to escalate.

A poll conducted by CNN shortly after the presidential debate between Harris and Trump in September found that more voters who watched the debate viewed Trump as a stronger candidate when it came to handling the role of commander in chief.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, wrote in a statement that the missile attacks against Israel on Tuesday "should be the breaking point and I would urge the Biden Administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran's ability to refine oil.

"These oil refineries need to be hit and hit hard because that is the source of cash for the regime to perpetrate their terror," he added.

In another statement, Graham said that he had spoken with Trump, who he described as "determined and resolved to protect Israel from the threats of terrorism emanating from Iran.

"While I appreciate the Biden administration's statement, we cannot forget that when President Trump left office, Iran was weak economically, and he sent the regime the ultimate message with the elimination of Soleimani," Graham said.

Graham continued: "The only thing the Iranian regime understands is strength. Now is the time to show unified resolve against Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

"We need decisive action, not just statements," he added.

On X, Marco Rubio, also a Republican senator, described the attack as a "large scale (not symbolic) missile attack from Iranian regime against Israel" and added that "a large scale Israeli retaliatory response inside Iran is certain to follow".

Bob Casey, a Democrat senator for Pennsylvania, wrote in response to the attacks that he stands "with Israel and unequivocally condemn Iran's missile strikes".

"The United States must continue doing everything it can to intercept Iran's missiles and help our ally defend itself," Casey added.

Jerry Nadler, a Democratic representative, condemned the attack in a post on X, adding that his thoughts were "with the Israeli people at this time".