US shifts assault ship to the Mediterranean to deter risk of Israel-Lebanon conflict escalating

WASHINGTON — The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp entered the eastern Mediterranean this week as the US positioned warships in an attempt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon to prevent it from developing into a broader war in the Middle East.

While the Wasp has the ability to assist in the evacuation of civilians if a large-scale war breaks out between Israel and Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon, that is not the primary reason it was rotated, a U.S. official said. “It’s about deterrence,” the official said.

A second US official said the rotation is similar to how the US sent the USS Bataan attack ship into the waters around Israel shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack on the country, with the ship remaining in the eastern Mediterranean for months to explore options. and to try to contain the conflict. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operational details.

The US European Command, which is responsible for ships operating in the Mediterranean, announced the move this week, saying the Wasp and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit would sail aboard the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill, which is used to transport Marines and landing craft. , vehicles and freight. The Oak Hill is already in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Wasp also sails with the amphibious transport ship USS New York, which can deliver troops by helicopter or landing craft.

It’s all because of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah and Israel cross-border strikes took place almost daily since the October 7 attacks that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and they are gradually increasing.

The Israeli military said last week it has “approved and validated” plans for an offensive in Lebanon, though any decision would come from the country’s political leaders.

General CQ Brown, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that any Israeli military offensive against Lebanon would risk Iran defending Hezbollah, which could spark a broader war that could endanger US forces in the region.

The US military has done that too other ships moved in the region. The Pentagon said the aircraft carrier Eisenhowerbased in Norfolk, Virginia, returns home after a commitment of more than eight months countering attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the navy says his most intensive mission since World War II. The San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt will take Eisenhower’s place.