Defense Department press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters the new detachment was being sent “in light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution”.
“We are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel to augment our forces that are already in the region,” Ryder added, declining to offer specifics about the new contingent, though he referred to them as ground troops.
The U.S. already has an array of forces positioned in the Middle East, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and the ballistic missile submarine USS Georgia, along with an additional squadron of F-22 fighter jets. In the eastern Mediterranean Sea, there are six U.S. warships, including the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship.
Israel has launched a barrage of airstrikes into southern and eastern Lebanon, with Lebanese health authorities saying that at least 492 people have been killed, including 35 children, and 1,645 injured in the attacks since Monday morning, which have also forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes.
The escalation comes after intense Israeli strikes last week that killed top Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon.
Israel is also accused of detonating pager and handheld radio devices in Lebanon last week, killing at least 37 people and wounding thousands.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, the majority of whom are women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.
