The US is sending an air defense system and troops to Israel

The Pentagon said Sunday it would deploy an air defense system along with about 100 U.S. troops to operate it.

President Biden called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to send the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery and crew to Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Ryder said in a statement.

The deployment comes after two direct missile attacks by Iran against Israel on April 13 and October 1. Israel has not yet responded to the latest rocket attack.

“This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to defending Israel and Americans in Israel from further ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” Ryder said in the statement.

The move brings U.S. troops closer to a growing and unfolding military conflict in the Middle East.

The US sent the THAAD system to Israel for training back in 2019 and shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack in which around 1,200 people died.

Separately, the Trump administration ordered parts of THAAD to South Korea in 2017 as a countermeasure against North Korean missile attacks. At the time, China rejected the deployment, saying the system’s radar could provide a new way to spy on its military and that THAAD missiles could undermine China’s nuclear deterrent.

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