Head of US military command in Israel tours military facility close to border with Lebanon
“Dodged a bullet” over the weekend, according to a US official. The top US military commander paid a visit to the Israeli army’s northern command on Monday, just one day after Hezbollah and Israel’s cross-border gunfire threatened to trigger a new phase of escalation in the region.
The Lebanese militant group fired hundreds of missiles and drones at military targets in the north as well as military intelligence bases close to Tel Aviv. In the meantime, the Pentagon disclosed new information about how it assisted the Israeli army in responding to these attacks.
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To discuss the attacks over the weekend, Israeli counterparts and the defense minister met with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown on Monday in Tel Aviv. They also discussed the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with Brown stressing the importance of limiting civilian casualties, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, and preventing the conflict from spreading.
Following that, Brown visited the army’s northern command headquarters, talked with senior Israeli military officials, and received operational updates.
Joint Staff Spokesman Capt. Jereal Dorsey said in a statement, “The US continues to coordinate with Israel and other allies and partners on ways to improve regional security and stability, protect US forces in the Middle East, and deter a broader conflict.”
The region “dodged a bullet, for now,” according to a US official who spoke to Al Arabiya English following the weekend attacks, which were the most severe since the conflict’s inception last October.
In retaliation for the death of the organization’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, last month, Hezbollah claimed to have launched about 340 rockets and attack drones at various targets across Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, said that the attack was carried out in two stages: first, hundreds of rockets were fired to overwhelm the Iron Dome system, and then, the drones were launched far into Israeli territory.
Nasrallah said that drones were also launched from the eastern Bekaa Valley, which is closer to the Syrian border. This is an unprecedented development.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder claims that Israel’s preemptive strikes, which it claimed to have carried out on Sunday morning, were not carried out by the US. At the Pentagon on Monday, Ryder told reporters, “We did provide some intelligence surveillance reconnaissance support (ISR) in terms of tracking incoming Lebanese Hezbollah attacks, but we did not conduct any kinetic operations, as they were not required.”
According to Nasrallah, the Israeli air force started bombing about half an hour before Hezbollah was supposed to launch its attack.
After the attacks, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued an order to keep two aircraft carrier strike groups in the area.
According to Ryder, the US is still “well positioned” to help Israel repel attacks from Iran, Hezbollah, or any other actor. However, he emphasized that the US was “intently focused” on lowering regional tensions and attempting to broker a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Even though Ryder claimed that the US did not shoot any Hezbollah aircraft down, he did claim that the US was ready to use force to support Israel’s defense.
“In this specific instance, the threat posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon made it unnecessary for the United States to use any of its weapons or defense capabilities. Put differently, Israel was able to accomplish that using its own natural resources and infrastructure. If it had been necessary for us to take that action, we are undoubtedly prepared and prepared to proceed,” he declared.
US military resources were dispersed across the area, according to Ryder, “and ready to go should they have been required.” He did not go into further detail, but said that Israel was better able to track the incoming Hezbollah attacks thanks to US ISR support.
Regarding Iran’s threatened reprisal against Israel over the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official, during his visit to Tehran last month, Ryder stated that the US was still considering that threat.
