United States getting ready to protect Israel

According to Reuters, the United States will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East to bolster defenses following threats from Iran and its allies Hamas and Hezbollah.

The US is bracing for Iran to make good on its vow to respond to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran - one in a series of killings of senior figures in the Palestinian militant group as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had approved sending additional Navy cruisers and destroyers-- which can shoot down ballistic missiles-- to the Middle East and Europe. The US is also sending an additional squadron of fighter jets to the Middle East.

"Austin has ordered adjustments to US military posture designed to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies," the Pentagon said in a statement.

There had been speculation that the Pentagon might not replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group in the Middle East once it completed its ongoing deployment. But Austin decided to rotate in the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier strike group to replace it.

The Pentagon statement added it would increase readiness to deploy more land-based ballistic missile defenses.

The US military had intensified deployments prior to April 13, when Iran launched an attack on Israeli territory with drones and missiles. Still, the threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon could present unique challenges to any efforts by the United States to intercept drones and missiles given the group's vast arsenal and immediate proximity to Israel.

At the time, Israel successfully knocked down almost all of the roughly 300 drones and missiles with the help of the United States and other allies.

Biden, in a phone call on Thursday with Netanyahu, discussed new US defensive military deployments to support Israel against threats such as missiles and drones, the White House said.

Earlier, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the US did not believe escalation was inevitable.

"I think we are being very direct in our messaging that certainly we don't want to see heightened tensions and we do believe there is an off ramp here and that is that ceasefire deal," Singh said.

 

United States moves warships closer to Israel

According to Saudi Gazette, the United States has announced it is moving an aircraft carrier, ships and jets to the eastern Mediterranean and will also give Israel additional equipment and ammunition.

This follows the Hamas attack on southern Israel, which President Biden called an unprecedented and appalling assault.

The US was also working to verify reports its citizens were among those killed and taken captive, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Israel says more than 700 people have been killed and 100 kidnapped.

In Gaza, more than 400 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes, according to Palestinian officials.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, a missile cruiser and four missile destroyers were heading to the region. US fighter jets would also be sent.

Further military aid to Israel would be sent in the coming days, the White House said, adding that the US was working to ensure that Israel's enemies would not try to seek advantage from the situation.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has expressed support for the Hamas attack, saying Israel needed to be held to account for endangering the region.

Hamas has said assistance from Iran helped it carry out its attack, which involved rockets, drones and militants on paragliders and saw hundreds of fighters break through Israeli border fortifications around the Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had not seen evidence of direct Iranian involvement, but that Iran had been helping the Gaza-based group for years.

"Hamas wouldn't be Hamas without the support that it's gotten over many years from Iran. We haven't yet seen direct evidence that Iran was behind this particular attack or involved. But the support over many years is clear," he told US TV.

At a UN Security Council meeting, Iran denied involvement in the attack on Israel, Reuters reported.

Blinken also said officials were looking at reports that US citizens had been caught up in the attack.

"We've got reports that several Americans are among the dead. We're working very actively to verify those reports," he told US TV on Sunday. Other countries including the UK, France, Ukraine and Thailand have also reported deaths.

He told ABC that "this is a massive terrorist attack that is gunning down Israeli civilians in their towns, in their homes, and as we've seen so graphically, literally dragging people across the border with Gaza.

Israel's ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, told CBS News that he understood Americans were among the soldiers and civilians abducted in southern Israel but did not have details.

The US sends billions of dollars of military aid to Israel, a close ally, each year. Since World War II, Israel has been the largest overall recipient of US foreign aid.

The UN Security Council is due to meet in New York shortly to discuss the violence in Israel and Gaza.