Iran will face “serious consequences” if it attacks Israel, the United States has warned, as thousands of US troops have been sent to the region amid fears that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon could escalate into an all-out regional war.
Squadrons of US fighter jets are being deployed, including F-15Es and F-16s, aircraft that played a major role in shooting down Iranian drones when Tehran launched a missile and drone attack on Israel in April.
F-22 aircraft and A-10 fighter jets are also being dispatched, while the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is already positioned in the Gulf of Oman, and the USS Harry S Truman is en route as part of a scheduled deployment.
A few thousand more American troops are also being moved to the region, the Pentagon said last night, to bolster the security of the 40,000 already stationed at bases in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
It comes as fierce fighting broke out during IDF raids in southern Lebanon overnight, and Iran-backed Hezbollah responded this morning by sending a barrage of rockets towards northern Israel.
The Biden administration hopes to prevent the situation from escalating into a broader war that could potentially engulf US forces, and has urged Israel to keep its incursion limited in scope.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the city of Khiyam, southeast Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers work on tanks in a staging area in northern Israel, near the Israel-Lebanon border, October 1, 2024.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Monday night, said the United States “supports Israel’s right to defend itself.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is already positioned in the Gulf of Oman
Overnight, Israel said its forces were engaged in “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah in villages in southern Lebanon that posed “an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Monday night, said the United States “supports Israel’s right to defend itself.”
“We agreed on the need to dismantle attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese Hezbollah cannot carry out October 7-style attacks against communities in northern Israel,” he wrote in X.
He added that “I reiterated the serious consequences for Iran should Iran decide to launch a direct military attack against Israel,” Austin said.
On Sunday, Austin warned that “if Iran, its partners or its proxies take this moment to attack US personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary measures to defend our people.”
Before last night’s raid, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own warning to Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East that Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said, just days after an airstrike south of Beirut killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s former leader.
The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said his fighters were “ready for war” and prepared to fight for a long time if necessary.
Smoke rises from the rubble of a building at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in the Laylaki neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 1, 2024.
Residents inspect damage following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp outside the southern port city of Sidon early on October 1, 2024.
Israel has also killed several of the group’s top commanders in recent days. Kassem said the group’s fighters and commanders killed have already been replaced.
It is unclear what response Iran might have to the attack on its representative, and officials in Tehran are said to be divided over the next steps to take.
One possibility is a repeat of April’s massive missile and drone bombardment of Israel, but analysts have suggested that Iran will not launch such an attack unless they expect the probability of success to be higher than before.
There are also fears that Iran and its proxies could carry out terrorist attacks against Israel or renew attacks on US military bases and personnel in the Middle East.
Last night Israel bombed Lebanon from the sky and on foot as an incursion began.
Israeli army tanks maneuver in a concentration area in northern Israel, near the border between Israel and Lebanon.
It comes after the Biden administration advised its ally Israel not to launch a major ground invasion in Lebanon and instead called for a more targeted raid, according to US officials.
But tougher elements in Israel’s government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, this morning called for a broader operation to “crush the terrorist organization.”
Israeli officials were reportedly left frustrated with the US and IDF after plans for the “limited” ground invasion were leaked hours before the move against Hezbollah.
When asked by reporters about the operation, President Biden appeared to confirm the claims, saying, “I’m more aware than you think.”
Asked if he was comfortable with the operational plans, he said, “I’m comfortable with them stopping.” “We should have a ceasefire now.”
Tensions are rising after Israel said it had eliminated Hezbollah’s top commanders in the airstrike in southern Beirut that killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
On Friday, Netanyahu gave a defiant speech to the UN, ignoring calls for a ceasefire from the United States, Britain and others, and instead asserted that Israel would press ahead with its goals and defend itself against Iran.
‘If you hit us, we will hit you. There is no place – there is no place in Iran – that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. And that’s true for the entire Middle East,” Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing rockets at Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel and the Iran-backed group have exchanged fire across the border with Lebanon almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after Hamas sent fighters into Israel and sparked the war.
Israeli ground and air strikes in the Strip have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in the months since, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
It’s been nearly a year since some 250 people were kidnapped in Israel, and friends and family are worried about their loved ones as attention turns away from the hostages and heads north toward Lebanon.