03:40Mandatory credit: US State Department
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that he 'won't deal in hypotheticals' when asked if the US would 'stand by Israel' in the event of an invasion of Lebanon, during a briefing in Washington DC on Thursday.
"I am not going to deal with any type of hypotheticals of that nature. Obviously we support Israel's right to defend itself, but we do not want to see a further escalation of the conflict. I'm not going to deal with any hypothetical scenarios that may or hopefully will not occur," he said.
When the journalist tried again, saying an invasion was 'in the realm of possibility', Miller responded: "we will continue to support Israel's right to defend itself while making clear we don't want to see any party escalate this conflict, but I'm just not going to deal with a hypothetical scenario."
On Thursday, Israeli warplanes began bombing Lebanon's border areas, with the IDF claiming that it had hit '100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other 'terrorist sites'. It came after blasts across Lebanon involving pagers on Tuesday and handheld radios on Wednesday killed 37 and injured nearly 3000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Hezbollah militant group, which confirmed that the pagers belonged to "employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions", attributed the explosions to Israel, while the country has not commented. Miller was also questioned about the US position on those attacks."
"Thousands of explosions, two children killed, you know we've seen explosions in public places, in grocery stores, on the streets, healthcare workers among casualties, I mean does that feel to you like a targeted attack that falls within the realm of international humanitarian law?" a reporter asked.
"I am not talking about feelings here. We are dealing with factual assessments of law. Those are the type of assessments that we conduct over time, where we gather information and make those assessments based on the facts, based on the law," he replied.
Earlier, the EU's parliament voted in favour of allowing European weapons to be used on Russian territory, ramping up the pressure on individual governments to sanction the action. Asked if that could impact on discussions about letting Ukraine use 'long-range' weaponry from the US for strikes inside Russia, Miller said that he didn't 'have any further comment' and that it was "an issue that we will continue to discuss with our allies".
US President Joe Biden and UK PM Sir Keir Starmer held talks on long-range strikes last Friday, although no decision was publicised. Russian President Vladimir Putin said authorising Ukraine to do so would "mean nothing but direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States, European countries in the war in Ukraine" and added that it "considerably changes… the very nature of the conflict, implying that NATO countries… are at war with Russia."
'I won't deal in hypotheticals' - State Dept spox asked if US will 'stand by Israel' in event of Lebanon invasion
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that he 'won't deal in hypotheticals' when asked if the US would 'stand by Israel' in the event of an invasion of Lebanon, during a briefing in Washington DC on Thursday.
"I am not going to deal with any type of hypotheticals of that nature. Obviously we support Israel's right to defend itself, but we do not want to see a further escalation of the conflict. I'm not going to deal with any hypothetical scenarios that may or hopefully will not occur," he said.
When the journalist tried again, saying an invasion was 'in the realm of possibility', Miller responded: "we will continue to support Israel's right to defend itself while making clear we don't want to see any party escalate this conflict, but I'm just not going to deal with a hypothetical scenario."
On Thursday, Israeli warplanes began bombing Lebanon's border areas, with the IDF claiming that it had hit '100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other 'terrorist sites'. It came after blasts across Lebanon involving pagers on Tuesday and handheld radios on Wednesday killed 37 and injured nearly 3000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Hezbollah militant group, which confirmed that the pagers belonged to "employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions", attributed the explosions to Israel, while the country has not commented. Miller was also questioned about the US position on those attacks."
"Thousands of explosions, two children killed, you know we've seen explosions in public places, in grocery stores, on the streets, healthcare workers among casualties, I mean does that feel to you like a targeted attack that falls within the realm of international humanitarian law?" a reporter asked.
"I am not talking about feelings here. We are dealing with factual assessments of law. Those are the type of assessments that we conduct over time, where we gather information and make those assessments based on the facts, based on the law," he replied.
Earlier, the EU's parliament voted in favour of allowing European weapons to be used on Russian territory, ramping up the pressure on individual governments to sanction the action. Asked if that could impact on discussions about letting Ukraine use 'long-range' weaponry from the US for strikes inside Russia, Miller said that he didn't 'have any further comment' and that it was "an issue that we will continue to discuss with our allies".
US President Joe Biden and UK PM Sir Keir Starmer held talks on long-range strikes last Friday, although no decision was publicised. Russian President Vladimir Putin said authorising Ukraine to do so would "mean nothing but direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States, European countries in the war in Ukraine" and added that it "considerably changes… the very nature of the conflict, implying that NATO countries… are at war with Russia."
Mandatory credit: US State Department
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that he 'won't deal in hypotheticals' when asked if the US would 'stand by Israel' in the event of an invasion of Lebanon, during a briefing in Washington DC on Thursday.
"I am not going to deal with any type of hypotheticals of that nature. Obviously we support Israel's right to defend itself, but we do not want to see a further escalation of the conflict. I'm not going to deal with any hypothetical scenarios that may or hopefully will not occur," he said.
When the journalist tried again, saying an invasion was 'in the realm of possibility', Miller responded: "we will continue to support Israel's right to defend itself while making clear we don't want to see any party escalate this conflict, but I'm just not going to deal with a hypothetical scenario."
On Thursday, Israeli warplanes began bombing Lebanon's border areas, with the IDF claiming that it had hit '100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other 'terrorist sites'. It came after blasts across Lebanon involving pagers on Tuesday and handheld radios on Wednesday killed 37 and injured nearly 3000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Hezbollah militant group, which confirmed that the pagers belonged to "employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions", attributed the explosions to Israel, while the country has not commented. Miller was also questioned about the US position on those attacks."
"Thousands of explosions, two children killed, you know we've seen explosions in public places, in grocery stores, on the streets, healthcare workers among casualties, I mean does that feel to you like a targeted attack that falls within the realm of international humanitarian law?" a reporter asked.
"I am not talking about feelings here. We are dealing with factual assessments of law. Those are the type of assessments that we conduct over time, where we gather information and make those assessments based on the facts, based on the law," he replied.
Earlier, the EU's parliament voted in favour of allowing European weapons to be used on Russian territory, ramping up the pressure on individual governments to sanction the action. Asked if that could impact on discussions about letting Ukraine use 'long-range' weaponry from the US for strikes inside Russia, Miller said that he didn't 'have any further comment' and that it was "an issue that we will continue to discuss with our allies".
US President Joe Biden and UK PM Sir Keir Starmer held talks on long-range strikes last Friday, although no decision was publicised. Russian President Vladimir Putin said authorising Ukraine to do so would "mean nothing but direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States, European countries in the war in Ukraine" and added that it "considerably changes… the very nature of the conflict, implying that NATO countries… are at war with Russia."