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We’ve not seen President Biden since Saturday which is perhaps unusual given the gravity of what’s unfolded, and continues to, in the Middle East.

But Sky news has just spoken to Admiral John Kirby, who speaks for the White House National Security Council, which has convened, with the president, several times over the past three days. 

The reporter began by asking him to characterize how the president sees this moment. How dangerous is it?

Adm Kirby said: “It’s very dangerous, certainly most acutely for the Israeli people. So the President is staying in touch with his national security team all throughout the day, will continue to do that as we are also staying in touch with our Israeli counterparts. 

“We don’t want to see any other actor or any other state in the region who whose interests are inimical to that of Israel try to take advantage of this. 

“That’s why he moved additional naval resources into the eastern Med, to send a strong signal of deterrence and reassurance that we’re going to take our national security interests very, very seriously.”

The reporter asked about the clashes on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah fighters and elements of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

And the journalist raised the suggestion, from Israel, that it could strike the Syrian capital Damascus if Hezbollah attacks Israel. 

“That’s one of the concerns here is, again, that other actors may try to take advantage of this situation to escalate the violence and to perpetrate more attacks on the Israeli people,” he replied.

“We’re anxious and concerned about the safety and security of the Israeli people. And of course, American citizens, the 1000s of them that come and go out of Israel on any given day or any given week. That’s our main concern, making sure that Israel can defend itself.”

The journalist asked at what point the American military become involved.

But Adm Kirby said there are “no plans to put US boots on the ground in Israel in this conflict”. 

“That said, we will do what we have to do to look after our national security interests, and I won’t go beyond that.”

On Gaza, he said that he trusts Israel’s respect for the rules of war.

“Israel has a right to defend itself and I think that is ‘full stop’ moment. Absolutely true. Unspeakable violence has been visited upon them and their people. And we have to take that seriously.

“We know the Israelis take that seriously. But we also share a lot of common values, democratic institutions, we share respect for the law of war. I’m sure that those values will persist.”

Again, the reporter asked about the extent to which President Biden believes Iran was involved. 

 “Broadly speaking, Iran is complicit here because they’ve been supporting Hamas now for decades: resources, training capabilities, but we haven’t seen any specific intelligence and the Israelis have said the same thing,” he said. 

Hamas attack on Israel was ‘ISIS-level savagery’

A senior US defence official has described Hamas’s attack on Israel as “ISIS-level savagery”, according to the Reuters news agency.

They went on to confirm that Washington plans to ramp up support to Israel by providing additional air defence and munitions.

In other developments, the US Senate is set to move quickly to confirm Joe Biden’s nominee for ambassador to Israel following the weekend attack.

Earlier, the president said it was “likely” that US citizens are among those currently being held hostage by Hamas.

Assistance is being offered for Americans still on the ground in Israel, with Mr Biden stressing that there are still ways for them to leave the country.

He went on to confirm that federal law enforcement officials are “closely monitoring” potential domestic threats.