New US forces in the Middle East "preparing for scenarios"
Shafaq News/ The deployment of a small number of American soldiers in the Middle East, announced earlier this week, could help the US military prepare for scenarios such as the evacuation of citizens from Lebanon, two US officials told Reuters.
When the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced the deployment, it refrained from specifying the number of soldiers or their mission.
The officials stated, “The move is precautionary and comes as President Joe Biden warns of the risk of all-out war and as Israel openly talks about a possible ground incursion into southern Lebanon.”
While Washington has urged American citizens to leave Lebanon, the US State Department has not ordered the evacuation of staff from there nor requested any assistance from the US military for evacuating citizens, according to US officials.
However, the UK, a close ally of the US, announced on Wednesday that it had sent forces to Cyprus to assist in evacuating its citizens trapped in Lebanon.
The officials also noted, “The additional US forces deploying to the Middle East are also headed to Cyprus.”
“The number (is) in the dozens.”
Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last October, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, the Israeli-Lebanese border has seen near-daily exchanges of fire, with Hezbollah vowing to continue backing Gaza until a ceasefire is reached.
The intensified exchange of missile and air strikes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military has entered its fourth day, raising fears of a wider regional conflict. The violence began after the detonation of Israeli-attributed radio devices in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut have reportedly caused hundreds of casualties and thousands of injuries, including women and children, triggering the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands from the border area, while Hezbollah retaliated by launching missiles at Israeli settlements.
On Wednesday, Israel's military chief said that airstrikes in Lebanon will continue to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure and pave the way for a potential ground operation.
