World Courant
WASHINGTON
US Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin and Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday mentioned rising tensions within the Center East, the Pentagon mentioned.
Austin and Gallant exchanged views on the regional instability and the “rising danger of escalation” from Iran, Lebanese group Hezbollah, and Iran-backed teams throughout the Center East, spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder mentioned in a press release.
Austin knowledgeable Gallant that the US “continues to watch assault planning from Iran and its proxies and is well-postured throughout the area to defend Israel and shield U.S. personnel and services,” Ryder added.
The protection chiefs additionally mentioned progress towards securing a cease-fire and the discharge of all hostages, together with eight Individuals, held captive by Hamas within the Gaza Strip.
The Pentagon introduced earlier this month that the US will deploy extra navy property to the Center East forward of a attainable retaliation by Iran towards Israel.
Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Service Strike Group, outfitted with F-35C fighters, to speed up transit to the Central Command space of duty, including to capabilities already supplied by the USS Theodore Roosevelt Service Strike Group.
Moreover, he ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the Central Command area.
There are roughly 40,000 US personnel within the US Central Command space of duty, Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesperson mentioned. “Routinely, there are roughly 34,000 within the area,” Crosson mentioned.
Tensions are operating excessive within the Center East following the July 31 assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh within the Iranian capital of Tehran and Israel’s assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on July 30.
Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of finishing up Haniyeh’s assassination, whereas Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied duty.
Iran vowed “harsh punishment” for Israel for Haniyeh’s killing on Iranian soil.
The escalation comes amid an ongoing Israeli offensive towards the Gaza Strip which has killed greater than 40,000 Palestinians following an assault Oct. 7 by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, that killed 1,139 Israelis.
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