ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was a “measure of justice”, US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Saturday.

“His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians,” read the US President’s statement.

Biden added that Washington fully supports “Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis” and any other Iran-backed group.

“Just yesterday, I directed my Secretary of Defense to further enhance the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war,” he said.

The Israeli military announced on Saturday that Nasrallah was “eliminated” alongside other Hezbollah commanders in a strike on the group’s central headquarters “which was located underground embedded under a residential building” in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah confirmed his death hours later.

Nasrallah was one of the founding members of Hezbollah, formed in 1982 to fight the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He became the group’s chief in 1992 after his predecessor Abbas al-Musawi was assassinated in an Israeli strike.

He is the latest Hezbollah senior figure killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in recent months. Fuad Shukr, the group’s top military commander was killed in a strike on Beirut in July, while his second-in-command Ibrahim Aqil was killed in Haret Hreik last week. Ibrahim Qubaisi, a commander of the group's missile and rocket units, was killed in a strike on Beirut on Tuesday.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been engaged in cross-border exchanges of fire for nearly a year. The Lebanese group initiated strikes on northern Israel a day after October 7.

Violence has significantly escalated between the two sides over the past two weeks, sparked by a major cyberattack involving communication devices of Hezbollah members in Lebanon which killed dozens and injured around 4,000 others.

Over 700 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 100,000 displaced since Israeli forces began intensifying their attacks on the country on Monday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister on Friday addressed the UN and pointed finger of blame at the US for assisting Israel militarily, giving them the capability to conduct such strikes.