TEL AVIV
The senior American general in charge of Middle Eastern forces unexpectedly visited Israel on Tuesday, ostensibly to make sure the Jewish state’s military had all it needed to continue its escalating conflict against the Palestinian group Hamas.
The director of the United States Central Command, Army General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, is the most recent high-ranking American official to visit Israel in anticipation of an impending Israeli ground assault on Gaza. It happens a day before Vice President Joe Biden of the United States is set to arrive.
As international concern grows about a wider, regional war, the US military is escalating its firepower in the region to deter Iran and other Iran-backed organisations from joining the conflict.
The United States Department of Defence is expediting the shipment of weapons to Israel.
Briefly addressing Reuters, which was travelling with him, Kurilla said, “I’m here to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself, particularly focused on avoiding other parties expanding the conflict.”
US officials told Reuters that Kurilla will be meeting with the highest levels of Israel’s military command to discuss the latter’s defensive needs in detail.
Kurilla was also anticipated to detail how the United States military would help prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading.
The Biden administration has sent messages that the United States is sending a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrence and not a provocation.
U.S. troops, fighter planes, and warships are already stationed at a series of locations in the region.
U.S. officials said Monday that as many as 2,000 troops have been warned to be ready to deploy within 24 hours if contacted, down from the standard 96 hours. This number may include units that offer aid like as medical personnel.
After Islamist fighters assaulted Israeli cities eight days ago, killing 1,300 people and taking prisoners in the bloodiest attack on civilians in Israeli history, Israel has promised to demolish Iran-backed Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
It has imposed a complete siege on Gaza, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has bombarded the territory with unprecedented air strikes; a ground assault is widely anticipated. Officials in Gaza estimate that 2,800 people have been killed, with almost a quarter of those being minors.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israel’s military cabinet for several hours in Israel. Blinken, who once spent five minutes in a bunker after hearing air raid sirens, is no stranger to conflict.
Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah forces have been exchanging fire with Israel across the border for days, has been a special focus of international diplomacy as it tries to avert a spillover of the violence.
On Monday, Israel ordered the evacuation of 28 towns in a 2-kilometer-deep (1.2-mile-deep) zone near the Lebanese border, the clearest warning yet that the battle could spread to a new front. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for attacking five Israeli locations.
This week’s border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been the worst since a war in 2006.
