US deploys forces to defend Israel
Washington has ordered more destroyers, cruisers, and an additional fighter squadron to the Middle East to defend Israel amid rising tensions with Iran, the US Defense Department said on Friday.
In addition, the US has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier currently deployed in the Middle East.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions after this week’s killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Both Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for the attack and have promised revenge. Iran also stated that the US bears partial responsibility for the attack as a “supporter and accomplice” of Israel.
While West Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement, it has repeatedly threatened to take out the Hamas leadership over the group’s October 7 attack on Israel, which took the lives of around 1,200 Israelis and led to more than 250 being taken hostage.
The subsequent Israel-Hamas war has sparked escalating tensions in the wider Middle East. Iran and Israel exchanged direct fire in April after Israel struck an Iranian Embassy compound in Syria.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered adjustments to the US military posture to help defend Israel, a Pentagon press release published on Friday said.
On top of the aircraft carrier group, the deployed forces will include “additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers,” as well as an extra fighter squadron. “The Department is also taking steps to increase our readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense,” the statement said.
The US defense secretary informed his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about the planned moves in a phone call on Friday morning, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said earlier. “The secretary reiterated ironclad support for Israel’s security and informed the minister about additional measures to include ongoing and future defensive force posture changes that the department will take to support the defense of Israel.”
The administration of President Joe Biden is “convinced” that Iran will attack Israel within days and is preparing to counter it, Axios reported on Thursday, citing three US officials.
Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone to reiterate American support for West Jerusalem, a White House press release on Thursday said. The two leaders discussed efforts to “support Israel’s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive US military deployments.”
