US tells 2,000 troops to be prepared to deploy to the Middle East

The Pentagon has reportedly selected about 2,000 troops to prepare for a deployment to aid Israel as a second strike group steams toward the eastern Mediterranean. Officials said the troops would not serve in a combat role but would be tasked with medical support or advisory duties. Details emerged Monday after the Defense Department said the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group, which deployed Friday from Norfolk, Virginia, was en route. She will join the USS Gerald R. Ford, which arrived off the coast of Israel last week.

The presence of two of the Navy’s most powerful warships will send a clear message to Iran and its regional allies, such as Hezbollah, not to escalate the conflict. It comes as Israel continues its mass amassing of troops and military equipment around the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas gunmen launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing at least 1,300 people. Officials quoted by the Wall Street Journal also said that some 2,000 troops were being prepared for deployment, a sign that Washington was ready to assist Israeli forces in the event of a ground invasion of Gaza.

President Joe Biden abandoned plans to travel to Colorado on Monday to deliver a speech on “Bidenomics.” Instead, he huddled with key national security officials. “This morning, President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed by their national security team on the latest updates in the wake of Hamas’s horrific attack in Israel and the resulting conflict in Gaza,” a White House official said.

“Chief of Staff Jeff Zients participated in the briefing led by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Bill Burns.” Western leaders have moved to urge Israel to follow international law and avoid sparking a wider regional conflagration.

Iran told Israel through the United Nations that it would intervene if operations in Gaza continued, a report claimed, as Israel prepared a “wide range of offensive operational plans” including a “joint and coordinated attack (on Gaza) from the air, the sea and the land. .’ Diplomatic sources told Axios that while Iran did not want the conflict to escalate, it was willing to intervene directly or indirectly, for example through a military group in Syria or Lebanon.

Schools in Lebanon remain closed due to fears of Israeli missiles targeting Hezbollah militants near the border. Although Hezbollah has not formally joined the war, the group has clashed with Israeli forces several times this week. Israel has called up 360,000 reservists as it prepares for its next step. Against that backdrop, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was on its way.

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