The ongoing discussions about the size of the US military deployed in the Middle East raised questions about the role Washington seeks to play in light of the war on Gaza.
US President Joe Biden stated there was "no going back to the status quo as it stood on Oct. 7," indicating that the administration is devising plans for the upcoming days.
Reports of the US military deployment in the region, including the establishment of a secret military base in Israel, prompted Vice President Kamala Harris to confirm that her country has "absolutely no intention nor do we have any plans to send combat troops into Israel or Gaza, period."
During an interview with CBS News, Harris stressed support for Israel's right to self-defense, while being concerned for the safety of civilians.
"Israel, without any question, has a right to defend itself. That being said, it is very important that there be no conflation between Hamas and the Palestinians."
She indicated that the Palestinians deserve equal measures of "safety and security, self-determination and dignity, and we have been very clear that the rules of war must be adhered to and that there be humanitarian aid that flows."
Farther than Gaza
Biden's frequent phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and repeated statements from the Pentagon and US Central Command suggest that the discussions focus on the developments in Gaza and the release of hostages.
The talks also address measures to prevent the war from expanding to other regions and ensure the situation does not implode in the West Bank and the occupied Palestinian territories.
They also want to prevent it from spilling into Lebanon, where the intensity of clashes is increasing between Hezbollah and Israel, and towards Syria. The war could also have severe threats to regional security due to Iran's active role in arming and financing groups loyal to it.
Asked by CBS about the message to Iran, Harris echoed Biden's warnings when he said, "Don't."
"Exactly. One word. Pretty straightforward."
Does this mean the US would return to fill the strategic vacuum it created after retreating from the geopolitical map of the Middle East?
Secret base?
The matter goes beyond sending two aircraft carriers and deploying thousands of US soldiers around Israel.
Two months before the Hamas attack, the Pentagon awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build US troop facilities for a secret base on top of Mt. Har Qeren, deep in the Negev desert, only about 35 kilometers from Gaza.
The old base, code-named "Site 512," is a radar facility that monitors the skies for missile attacks on Israel.
However, according to the Intercept website, the facility did not detect the launch of thousands of rockets from Gaza toward Israel on Oct. 7 because its radars focused on Iran, more than 1,100 kilometers away.
The Pentagon indirectly referred to a $35.8 million contract for the facility in an announcement on Aug. 2.
The Intercept pointed out that although the Defense Department made great efforts to obscure the true nature of the site, described as a "classified worldwide" project, budget documents showed that it was part of Site 512.
Paul Pillar, a former senior analyst at the CIA's counterterrorism center, said that sometimes something is treated as an official secret, not hoping the adversary would never discover it, but because the US government does not want to acknowledge it officially.
"In this case, perhaps the base will be used to support operations elsewhere in the Middle East in which any acknowledgment that they were staged from Israel or involved any cooperation with Israel would be inconvenient and likely to elicit more negative reactions than the operations otherwise would elicit," he told the Intercept.
Rare acknowledgement
Rare acknowledgment of the US military presence in Israel came in 2017 when the two countries inaugurated a military site.
The US government-funded Voice of America described the site as "the first US military base on Israeli soil."
At the time, Israeli Air Force's Brig. Gen. Tzvika Haimovitch said it was "historic."
He said: "We established a US base in the State of Israel, in the Israel Defense Forces, for the first time."
A day later, the US military denied that it was an American base, insisting that it was merely a "living facility" for US service members working at an Israeli base.
Strike forces
The facility can house as many as 1,000 troops. However, it wasn't established to contend with a threat to Israel from Palestinian militants, but the danger posed by Iranian mid-range missiles.
The growing security concerns have prompted the Pentagon to significantly expand its presence in the Middle East, with the US doubling the number of fighter jets in the region and deploying two aircraft carriers off the coast of Israel.
The first is the USS Gerald Ford, which includes about 5,000 Marines and a group of accompanying warships, including at least a missile cruiser, two destroyers, and dozens of aircraft, including jet fighters.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also directed another aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight Eisenhower, and its escorts to make the transit to the Mediterranean, in addition to the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, which carries personnel from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The Pentagon announced it was sending 900 troops of rapid intervention units "intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further bolster US force protection capabilities," according to Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Which role?
US defense officials stressed that the deployment readiness order states that the forces are not intended to serve in combat roles, but are assigned to tasks such as providing "intelligence and planning" and medical support.
Officials said some may enter Israel to support its forces, noting that Washington dispatched three generals, who led the fight against ISIS to provide advice.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is accelerating the deployment of about a dozen missile defense systems in the region to protect US forces from missiles and other attacks.
In addition, the US military support to Israel includes an increase in ammunition and missiles for the Israeli Iron Dome.
The White House also asked Congress for $14 billion to support Israel, most of it for weapons. The Israeli army already receives significant military aid, amounting to $3.8 billion annually, with $1 billion from direct arms sales.
