The Pentagon is sending more American troops to the Middle East as violence between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated and as fears of a wider war in the region have been growing.

“In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region,” Major General Pat Ryder said Monday, as the Associated Press reported. 

Little is known so far about the number of troops or the work they would be doing, as the Pentagon refused to comment on or give details on specifics, citing security reasons. American troops already have an increased presence in the area, with about 40,000 service members in the region. 

In recent months, the Defense Department has said it is “intensely focused on de-escalating tensions” in the Middle East in hopes of deterring an all-out war. The Navy announced on Friday that the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, 6,500 sailors, and several other vessels would deploy early this week for a trip that is expected to take the carrier strike group, which has been training for months, to the Red Sea, as Stars and Stripes reported. 

Both Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging heavy fire. Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets across Northern Israel on Sunday and the Israeli military on Monday struck some 300 targets in Lebanon, killing more than 300 people and injuring more than 1,200 others according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, the New York Times reported. Israel warned residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of the strikes.

Israel’s military said Monday that more than 1 million Israelis are “running to bomb shelters in Haifa as Hezbollah indiscriminately fires rockets,” and said that Hezbollah is “continuously attacking our civilians.”