Thousands more US troops and attack aircraft are flying to the Middle East as Israel targets Hezbollah in Lebanon

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending several thousand more US troops and aircraft to the Middle East as Israel continues to step up its attacks against Hezbollah.

Austin ordered that the aircraft units and associated personnel that were scheduled to leave the Middle East region should remain in the region and those that were supposed to replace them would join them instead, amounting to “several thousand” troops would amount to several aircraft squadrons, Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed. The announcement followed Israeli attacks and operations in Lebanon in recent days, as well as the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

“The secretary also increased the readiness of additional U.S. forces, increasing our readiness to respond to various contingencies,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday. “And [the Defense Department] maintains robust and integrated air defense capabilities throughout the Middle East, ensuring the protection of U.S. forces operating in the region.

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Singh did not give specific numbers to reporters, but said new and existing assets in the region would include F-16, F-15E, A-10 and F-22 fighter jets and associated personnel.

The increase in U.S. forces comes after Israel launched attacks in Lebanon that killed Nasrallah and other key Hezbollah leaders. On Monday, several news outlets reported that Israel was preparing for a possible ground attack on Lebanon, once again escalating tensions in the region and triggering a wider war after a year of brutal Israeli offensives against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following that group’s terror attack on Israelis in 2019 2011 would threaten October.

In addition to adding more fighter squadrons, Austin also ordered the strike group from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the Amphibious Ready Group USS Wasp, which includes a Marine expeditionary unit, to remain in the region, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said, the top brass said Pentagon spokesman said in a statement on Sunday.

Military.com reported last month that the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group and the USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group – which includes the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit as well as the USS Oak Hill and the USS New York – would head to the Middle East amid increasing Tensions.

Ryder said in his statement that Austin emphasized that any damage Iran inflicts on U.S. troops in the region would be followed by a rapid response.

“Secretary Austin made clear that if Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary actions to defend our people,” Ryder said in the statement. “The United States retains the ability to deploy troops at short notice.”

Austin spoke twice Friday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant following the violence in Lebanon, where the defense minister “expressed complete support for Israel’s right to defend itself and its people against Iranian-backed terrorist groups” and “emphasized that the United States are determined.” “To prevent Iran and Iran-backed partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or escalating the conflict,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Saturday.

President Joe Biden called Nasrallah’s death “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese civilians,” in a statement Saturday, and he condemned the former Hezbollah leader’s decision to work with Hamas to carry out a… “Northern State” to create “front” against Israel after the attacks on October 7, 2023 along the Gaza-Israel border.

Related: As tensions rise in the Middle East, the Pentagon is redirecting an aircraft carrier strike group to the region

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