The Trump administration Friday backed Israel after overnight airstrikes this week in Syria targeting Iranian arms transfers to the Hezbollah militant group.
“The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Iranian regional actions that endanger Israeli national security and the safety of the Israeli people,” Robert Palladino, deputy State Department spokesman, said in a statement via Twitter.
“Iranian support of and supply to terrorist groups in Syria and across the region that have the clear intent and capability to strike Israel are unacceptable.
“The United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against the Iranian regime’s aggressive adventurism — and we will continue to ensure that Israel has the military capacity to do so decisively.
“The commitment of the Trump administration and the American people to ensuring Israel’s security is both enduring and unshakable,” Palladino said.
Israeli defense officials said Thursday that its air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
The targets were primarily storage and logistics operations used by Tehran to ship weapons to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group that fought Israel in a 2006 war.
Russia slammed the attack, accusing the six Israeli F-16 jets of launching a “provocative” raid as two civilian airliners were preparing to land in Damascus and Beirut, creating a “direct threat” to the aircraft.
The Trump administration’s statement brought Twitter praise from the Republican Jewish Coalition and New York GOP Rep. Peter King.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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