US Places 2,000 Soldiers on Deployment Alert to Increase DoD's Ability to Respond in MidEast

Fighters on board the aircraft carrier sent by the US Department of Defense to the waters of the eastern Mediterranean (US Navy)
Fighters on board the aircraft carrier sent by the US Department of Defense to the waters of the eastern Mediterranean (US Navy)
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US Places 2,000 Soldiers on Deployment Alert to Increase DoD's Ability to Respond in MidEast

Fighters on board the aircraft carrier sent by the US Department of Defense to the waters of the eastern Mediterranean (US Navy)
Fighters on board the aircraft carrier sent by the US Department of Defense to the waters of the eastern Mediterranean (US Navy)

The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced Tuesday that approximately 2,000 personnel across various units are in a heightened state of readiness to increase the department's deterrence posture and ability to respond in the Middle East.

The new announcement aims to meet Israel's needs after the Hamas attack on the Hebrew state.

The Pentagon said in a statement that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has placed approximately 2,000 personnel across various units on a heightened state of readiness to bolster deterrence posture in the Middle East.

However, no decisions have been made to deploy any of those forces.

US media reported that the troops being readied for deployment would cover support roles, such as medical assistance and handling explosives.

The Washington Post quoted defense officials saying the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship in the United States Navy made up of about 4,000 Marines and sailors, will join the task force in the Mediterranean Sea and head near the Israeli shore, defense officials said.

The Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, another of the ships transporting the task force, were in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, having left Kuwait after the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to show Washington's support for its ally.

Biden will be on a mission to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from spreading to the Middle East.

Also, the top US general overseeing US forces in the Middle East, Michael Kurilla, made an unannounced trip to Israel on Tuesday, saying he hoped to ensure its military has what it needs as it fights a deepening war against the Palestinian group.

Kurilla’s trip is the latest by a senior US official to Israel ahead of an expected ground assault by Israel's military in Gaza and before Biden's visit.

According to Reuters, the US military is increasing its firepower in the region, aiming to prevent Iran and other Iran-backed groups from getting involved in the conflict as international fears of a broader regional war grow.

The Pentagon also rushes weapons to Israel, including air defenses and munitions.

"I'm here to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself, particularly focused on avoiding other parties expanding the conflict," Kurilla told Reuters, which is traveling with him, in brief remarks before landing.

A US official told Reuters that Kurilla was scheduled to hold high-level meetings with Israel's military leadership, ensuring a clear understanding of the close US ally's defense requirements.

Kurilla was also expected to outline US military support to avoid expanding the Israel-Hamas conflict.



Netanyahu Warns Yemen’s Houthis of ‘Heavy Price’

Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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Netanyahu Warns Yemen’s Houthis of ‘Heavy Price’

Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Houthi militias on Thursday that they “will pay a heavy price” after Israel launched strikes in Yemen in response to a missile attack from the armed group.

The Iran-backed Houthis - who have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war with Hamas - said they had attacked Tel Aviv overnight, launching two ballistic missiles and hitting "precise military targets.”

As Israeli jets were in the air, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile headed towards central Israel which destroyed a school building in Ramat Efal in the western part of Tel Aviv with what a military spokesperson described as falling shrapnel.
“After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are nearly the last remaining arm of Iran's axis of evil. They are learning and they will learn the hard way, that whoever harms Israel - pays a very heavy price for it,” Netanyahu warned.
Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah are also allies of Iran.
The Israeli attack in Yemen, involving 14 fighter jets and other aircraft, came in two waves, with a first series of strikes on the ports of Salif and Ras Issa and a second series hitting the capital Sanaa, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
"We made extensive preparations for these operations with efforts to refine our intelligence and to optimize the strikes," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel’s “long hand” will reach the Houthi leaders.