On the flight back to Washington after a day of talks in Israel, Biden was asked about the prospect of a large-scale ground assault by the 300,000-strong Israeli force arrayed along the border.
Biden’s comments came a day after a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces, Lt Col Richard Hecht, cast doubt for the first time on whether a ground invasion was an inevitability.
They all brought the same message: to avoid the mistakes the US had made after the 9/11 attacks 22 years ago, rushing in militarily to assuage national rage without thinking of the long-term consequences.
In particular, US officials have warned that a mass ground assault could bring reprisals from Hezbollah from the north and the risk of a two-front war – there are already near daily exchanges of fire across the Lebanese border.
One faint hope nurtured by US diplomats is that with unanimous, unyielding pressure from the Arab world, Hamas could be forced to leave Gaza for an agreed haven, just as the Palestine Liberation Organisation left Lebanon for Tunisia in 1982.
Addressing troops on the Gaza border on Thursday, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, made clear that some form of ground operation was imminent.
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