Two Biden administration officials stated on Tuesday that the U.S. did not have advance knowledge of an attack in Lebanon that appears to have targeted Hezbollah members by blowing up their pagers. 

The attack killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000 across Lebanon, including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon. At least two members of the Iran-backed terror group were killed. The attack came less than a day after Israeli officials announced that stopping Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel is now a top priority for the country’s war effort. 

“I can tell you that the U.S. was not involved in it, the U.S. was not aware of this incident in advance,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. 

Miller declined to comment on the attacks, saying U.S. officials are “collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened.”  

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that assessment. “If you’re asking me if the U.S. was involved, no, the U.S. was not involved.  If you’re asking me if we were aware of the operation, we were not aware of this incident that hundreds of pagers, as you just mentioned, were going to explode in Lebanon ahead of time,” she said at a press briefing. 

Both officials kept their distance from the attack and expressed the Biden administration’s support for diplomacy as the best way to resolve Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah. The attack occurred as Amos Hochstein, the senior White House official overseeing the Lebanon portfolio, was visiting Israel to advance de-escalation talks. 

“We’ve been very clear about the tensions in the Middle East and wanting to make sure that we do everything that we can to lessen the tension there,” Jean-Pierre said.

Miller called on both Israel and Hezbollah to avoid escalations in the region, noting that his message was regarding the overall situation and not the pager explosions.

“We are always concerned about escalation. We are always concerned about any type of event that may cause further escalation. And it remains our message to both Israel and to other parties that they need to do everything they can to try and reach a diplomatic resolution,” said Miller. 

More than 60,000 Israelis who live near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon have been evacuated from their homes since October, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks. Israeli leaders have said that helping these people return to their homes is a top priority for the Israeli military.

“It is our judgment that a diplomatic solution is the best way to get them back to their homes. Because if you look at what a military conflict would entail, it’s hard to see how that gets those families on either side of their border back to their homes quickly,” said Miller. 

Civilians are not a legitimate military target, Miller noted, but he added that members of Hezbollah — which the U.S. first deemed a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 — are appropriate targets.

“In general, yes, of course we support operations to target Hezbollah militants, who continue to launch terrorist attacks against civilians,” said Miller. “Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism and a right to carry out legitimate attacks against terrorists — not civilians, but terrorists.” 

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) praised the attack, describing it as “strategic,” “innovative” and “precise,” “maximizing the elimination of terrorists while minimizing harm to civilians by targeting military communication devices.”

Sherman said that Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon “must explain why he had a Hezbollah military communication device.”

Other lawmakers seemed uncertain how to publicly respond to the incident.

“I guess it speaks volumes to why people shouldn’t be using pagers anymore,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) quipped.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that it was “too early to make any definitive judgements, but it reflects a new weapon in warfare. First time I’ve ever heard of a personal device, like a pager or phone, being used as an explosive. I’m interested to see what happens.”

But they also acknowledged that the attack could have broader implications for the region.

Reed said that the long-term impacts of the attack could depend on who the casualties are.

“I’ve heard that some significant people were injured, including the ambassador from Iran. So if there’s a huge number of prominent individuals that could ratchet up [tensions],” he said. “I think that Hezbollah will try to figure out some way to respond, but I think it’s very difficult for them to respond.”

Lawler added: “Obviously if you had a situation like that, I think it shows the continued threat that Israel faces, which is why the administration should not be allowing any daylight between the United States and Israel.”

Jewish Insider senior Congressional correspondent Marc Rod contributed to this story.