US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that Israel had a "right to defend itself" after Israel eliminated a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike in Beirut.

"I want to address what's happened over the last few hours in terms of the Middle East, and be very clear Israel has a right to defend itself," Harris told reporters before an election rally in Atlanta.

"What we know in particular is it has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organization, which is exactly what Hezbollah is," added Harris.

"But all of that being said, we still must work on a diplomatic solution to end these attacks, and we will continue to do that work," she stated.

The IDF announced on Tuesday night that in a targeted, intelligence-based elimination, Israeli Air Force fighter jets eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization's most senior military commander and the head of its Strategic Unit, Fuad Shukr "Sayyid Muhsan", in the area of Beirut.

The IDF also said that Shukr has directed Hezbollah's attacks on the State of Israel since October 8th, and he was the commander responsible for the murder of the 12 children in Majdal Shams in northern Israel on Saturday evening, as well as the killing of numerous Israelis and foreign nationals over the years.

On Sunday, Harris' national security adviser Phil Gordon said that her support for Israel's security is "ironclad".

“The Vice President has been briefed and is closely monitoring Hezbollah’s horrific attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in northern Israel yesterday which killed a number of children and teenagers. She condemns this horrific attack and mourns for all those killed and wounded,” said Gordon in a statement.

"Israel continues to face severe threats to its security, and the Vice President’s support for Israel’s security is ironclad," Gordon said in a statement.

Harris last week met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Harris reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself but also said she expressed during the meeting “my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza.”

Former US President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump later criticized Harris’ remarks on Israel and called them “disrespectful”.

“I think her remarks were disrespectful. They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who’s Jewish can vote for her. But that’s up to them. But she was certainly disrespectful to Israel, in my opinion,” said Trump during his meeting with Netanyahu on Friday.