Austin to send fighter jets, keep carrier group in Middle East for Israel defense

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a fighter jet squadron, Navy ships and air defenses to the Middle East amid heightened regional tensions due to Israeli attacks in Iran and Lebanon. 

“The Department of Defense continues to take steps to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran’s partners and proxies,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement Friday. “To that end, Secretary Austin has ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies.”

In addition to the fighter jets, the Pentagon will send more ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions, take steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defenses and maintain a carrier strike group presence in the Middle East, the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The order comes after President Biden promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday that he would increase American military presence in the region to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its allies amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The United States is currently bracing for Tehran to follow through on their pledge to respond to the assassination of Hamas peace negotiator Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, but hours after the attack became public, Netanyahu gave defiant remarks, saying Israel is achieving its goals. 

Israel did claim responsibility for a Tuesday strike in Beirut that killed a top Hezbollah commander.

The intense rhetoric has the West concerned that the region will ignite into an all-out war, with the White House stressing Wednesday that the Israeli strikes are not helpful while the administration seeks a cease-fire deal to a relentless Israeli air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said the recent events complicate the pending deal that aims to end the war that has largely killed civilians, the majority women and children, and sent the territory into famine.