Shiite Muslims light candles during a protest against the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Karachi, Pakistan, on Saturday.

Fareed Khan/AP

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Fareed Khan/AP

The killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli attack on Beirut sparked mixed reactions in the region. The civilian death toll from the attacks is likely to rise. The Iran-backed Lebanese military group is known for its resilience and retaliation.

But many U.S. leaders are united in supporting Israel’s killing of Nasrallah, saying it is an appropriate measure for the longtime decision-maker of an organization that has taken many innocent lives.

President Biden said the death of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday was “a measure of justice for his many victims.”

“Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for the killings of hundreds of Americans during a four-decade reign of terror,” Biden said in a statement.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson supported the attack.

Harris called Nasrallah “a terrorist with American blood on his hands” whose leadership “destabilized the Middle East and led to the killing of countless innocent people in Lebanon, Israel, Syria and around the world.” Today, Hezbollah’s victims enjoy some relish measure of justice.”

Biden and Harris reiterated their support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups.

Hezbollah has been linked to several attacks against the United States since the 1980s. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and three years later pledged allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader and called for the destruction of Israel.

The group’s attacks against Americans and U.S. interests include the 1983 and 1984 suicide truck bombings in Beirut that targeted the U.S. Embassy, ​​U.S. Marine Barracks, and the U.S. Embassy Annex. The death toll from these attacks was more than 300 Americans and Lebanese.

In 1985, a Trans World Airlines flight was hijacked by a suspected Hezbollah member who fatally shot a U.S. Navy diver.

According to a US Congressional research report, Hezbollah members armed and trained Shiite militias during the Iraq War, who carried out attacks on US forces during their operations between 2003 and 2011.

According to the report, more than 500 Lebanese and over 30 Israelis were killed in recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East.

The Lebanese militant group and Israel have been attacking each other since the current conflict in the Middle East began almost a year ago. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza and is also backed by Iran, carried out an attack on Israel on October 7. In that attack, about 1,200 Israelis were killed and Hamas militants took about 250 hostages. Israel responded with a months-long assault in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

The U.S. intelligence community’s annual threat assessment for 2024 said Hezbollah “retains the ability to target U.S. persons and interests in the (Middle East) region, globally, and to a lesser extent in the United States.”