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The U.S. is shifting more troops and other military assets to the Middle East to defend Israel and American forces against what is expected to be a complex attack by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said Friday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is currently operating in the Pacific, and its destroyer escorts to the region along with an additional squadron of fighter planes.
Additional ballistic air defense units will also be deployed to the Middle East, not only to defend Israel but to protect U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria who have come under attack by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said.
This is the second time since April that the U.S. has acted quickly to defend Israel after the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted targeted assassinations of Iranian officials and militant groups backed by Tehran.
U.S. assets already in the region include ground and air forces as well as newly deployed destroyers, amphibious ships and an aircraft carrier to help repel attacks from Iran, Yemen or Lebanon.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said earlier Friday that Austin was preparing “multiple forthcoming force posture moves to bolster force protection for U.S. forces” and Israel.
The mobilization comes after the assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Beirut and Tehran over the past week. Israel has claimed credit for the former but has not commented publicly on the latter.
The assassinations are an embarrassment for Iran’s leaders, particularly the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran at a government-run guest house that was supposed to be highly secure.
Concern is high that the killing of Haniyeh and high-ranking Hezbollah operative Fuad Shukr in Beirut will provoke a more unpredictable response than Iran’s April 13 assault on Israel, which was telegraphed in advance in a way that enabled the U.S., France and the U.K. to help Israel repel over 300 missiles and drones.
In a phone call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden said the U.S. would provide additional military assets to “support Israel’s defense against threats,” according to a summary of the call.
Iranian proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen could hit Israel from multiple directions simultaneously, complicating defenses already strained by the ongoing war in Gaza and months of missile and rocket attacks from in Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah suggested this week that a coordinated attack on Israel could be in the plans. “Because they have picked a fight with everyone, they don’t know where the response will come from,” he said. “The response will come separately or coordinated.”
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi on Thursday threatened a “military response to these crimes, which are shameless and dangerous, and constitute a major escalation by the Israeli enemy.”
The U.S. carried out what it called a “self-defense” strike on Tuesday in Iraq, targeting Iran-backed militants who were preparing to launch a drone attack near an American base.
