The Pentagon said on Friday that the U.S. military will send additional fighter jets and naval ships to the Middle East as Washington prepares for Iran and its regional allies to make good on their promises of a response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The assassinations of Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut the night before have diplomats scrambling to prevent a full-scale regional war. Rising tensions have prompted major airlines, including Lufthansa, Delta and Air India, to cancel flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut.
France on Friday urged its citizens to leave Iran, and Cyprus said it had expanded plans to assist with mass evacuations from the region if hostilities escalated. The island nation helped evacuate tens of thousands of people during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday authorized the deployment of additional Navy cruisers and destroyers capable of shooting down ballistic missiles to the Middle East and Europe. The U.S. also plans to send additional fighter jet squadrons to the Middle East.
“Secretary Austin has ordered adjustments to U.S. force posture to better protect U.S. forces, strengthen support for the defense of Israel, and ensure the United States is prepared to respond to a range of contingencies,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The U.S. military had stepped up its deployment even before Iran launched drone and missile attacks on Israeli territory on April 13. Israel, with the support of the U.S. and other allies, succeeded in shooting down almost all of the drones and missiles, about 300 of which were fired.
The Lebanese Hezbollah threat is thought to pose unique challenges to U.S. efforts to intercept drones and missiles, given the group’s vast arsenal and its close proximity to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday the country was “highly prepared for any scenario,” and Israeli media reported that the government had distributed satellite phones to ministers in case Iran retaliated by cutting off communications.
Israel killed Hezbollah deputy commander Shukr in Beirut on Tuesday in what it said was retaliation for a deadly rocket attack last week in the annexed Golan Heights. Haniyeh was killed in Tehran a few hours later. Israel has not officially acknowledged Haniyeh’s death, but many in the country, including leading politicians and former security chiefs, have celebrated it.
Both Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the killing and have vowed to retaliate. Crowds gathered in the Qatari capital Doha on Friday to bury Haniyeh, a day after a prayer ceremony in Tehran for him, who was Hamas’ chief negotiator in the effort to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who has urged a ceasefire in recent months, told reporters at a U.S. air base late Thursday that the killings were “unhelpful.”
Biden added that he had a “very direct” conversation with Netanyahu about the need to reach an agreement. “The foundations are in place for a ceasefire. He should move toward one and they should move now.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Friday that the United States did not believe escalation of tensions was inevitable.
“I think we’re sending a very forthright message that we don’t want tensions to escalate, and we believe there is a way out here, and that is the ceasefire agreement,” Singh said.
An Israeli delegation is due to visit Cairo in the coming days to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday.
Commenting on the announcement, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: “Netanyahu has no intention of stopping the war and is using these empty rhetoric to cover up his crimes and escape the consequences.”
Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
