White House confirms Biden-Netanyahu call

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for roughly half an hour on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. The call comes as Israel reportedly considers its response to a recent Iranian missile attack. The Israeli military has promised vengeance against Iran for the attack—the second of its kind in less than a year. On Wednesday, Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant promised his country’s response to Iran would be precise, surprising, and deadly.

Did Biden and Netanyahu discuss Israel’s possible response to Iran? The conversation reportedly touched on a variety of topics that Jean-Pierre did not discuss with reporters, though she did confirm that Israel’s possible retaliation was among them. It was one of more than a dozen calls between the two leaders in the past year, she said. Jean-Pierre also largely dodged a reporter’s questions about a similar phone call between former President Donald Trump and Netanyahu last week, saying those questions should be addressed to the former president. She added however that only one president serves at a time and Biden is the current occupant of the Oval Office.

What’s going on on the ground in Israel? An Israeli man and woman lost their lives on Wednesday in a missile attack that struck northern Israel, Tel Aviv’s Embassy to the United States said on social media. On Tuesday, Israel’s military reported that the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah had launched roughly 135 missiles toward Israel.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers are continuing ground operations in southern Lebanon, the military said. Israeli troops have recovered explosives, anti-tank missiles, and other weapons in tunnels they’ve swept clear as part of those operations, the Israel Defense Forces said. Some of those tunnels have run through international non-governmental organization facilities, Israel’s military alleged.

Dig deeper: Listen to Jill Nelson’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about Oct. 7 commemorations around the world.