With the situation constantly changing in the Middle East amidst concerns of a larger war between Israel and Hezbollah, the United States is sending a “small number” of ground troops to the region, the Pentagon shared Monday.
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Defense Department press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder shared with reporters on Monday that the decision was made “in light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution.”
Ryder did not specify how many troops would be deployed or where they would be sent.
“We are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel to augment our forces that are already in the region,” Ryder said.
Currently stationed in the Middle East, the U.S. has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group as well as the USS Georgia, a ballistic missile submarine. There are additional squadrons of F-22 fighter jets in the region as well.
In the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the U.S. has six warships, including the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship.
Israel has been on the hot seat in the Middle East for nearly a year, as it launched its war against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack by the terrorist group.
Last week, Israel turned its focus on the militant group Hezbollah, launching a targeted attack on communication devices being used by the group, killing at least 37 people and injuring thousands more over two days.
The attacks took place in Lebanon and Syria.
Airstrikes from Israel also killed top Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon last week, Israeli officials shared.
Then, on Monday, Israeli forces targeted around 300 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, killing another 245 people while injuring 1,000 more, the Lebanese Health authorities shared. This marked one of the deadliest fighting days in the country in recent history.
Hezbollah fired around 130 rockets at Haifa, an Israeli city, on Monday. The group claimed it struck or targeted Israeli military warehouses and defense contractor locations.
Last Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said while speaking before troops that “we are at the start of a new phase in the war.”
While Gallant did not share more at the time, it appears that the nation is turning its sights to other hostile groups that threaten its safety.
Gallant spoke with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin this week about the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
While Austin expresses his “support for Israel’s right to defend itself,” he also “stressed the importance of finding a path to a diplomatic solution.”
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz shared in a post to X on Monday that his country “will not stop until the threat is removed from Israel’s citizens and the residents of the north return safely to their homes.”
“We will not accept this reality and will act with full force to change it,” he wrote on X.
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