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The U.S. military is sending “a few thousand” additional military personnel to the Middle East from multiple U.S. Air Force jet fighter squadrons to bolster security in the region and be prepared to defend Israel from an attack if necessary, Pentagon officials said Monday.
The extra help will come from F-15E, F-16, A-10, and F-22 fighter and support units. Pentagon officials on Monday would not identify the Air Force units but said they were initially intended to replace other squadrons already there.
“The forces due to rotate into the theater and replace them will now instead augment the in-place forces already in the region,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also told the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which includes the USS Mobile Bay guided-missile cruiser and the guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 21, to remain in the Middle East region until further notice, officials said.
The decision by Mr. Austin follows recent Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and the attack that resulted in the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and much of the Hezbollah militant movement’s top leadership.
Last week, Ms. Singh told reporters that Pentagon officials didn’t believe an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon was “imminent.” When asked Monday if she still held that opinion, Ms. Singh said, “We’re working with the Israelis and trying to learn more about what they intend to do. I don’t have more to offer.”
On Friday, the Biden administration was blindsided when Israel launched a devastating airstrike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut that targeted Mr. Nasrallah.
Mr. Austin “was caught off guard. We made that pretty clear on Friday,” Ms. Singh said. “We were not involved in that operation. We were notified as it was underway.”
Mr. Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, had a “frank and very firm conversation” about the Israeli airstrike, Pentagon officials said.
Ms. Singh also would not comment on whether the Defense Department was preparing for an evacuation of Americans from Lebanon as Israel weighs a possible ground invasion, saying the State Department had primary responsibility for that task.
“We’re a planning organization. We have a wide array of plans on the shelves that can be implemented at any time,” Ms. Singh said.
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