Washington on Friday ordered “a modification of the American military posture intended (…) to boost support for the defense of Israel and ensure that the United States is prepared for various eventualities.”
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Fears of a regional conflagration are growing in the Middle East. The United States announced on Friday, August 2, that it was strengthening its military presence, following the assassination attributed to Israel of the leader of Hamas and the death in an Israeli strike of a senior Hezbollah official, which Tehran and the Lebanese movement have sworn to avenge.
In view of “the possibility of regional escalation by Iran and its partners”US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered “a change in the American military posture intended (…) to boost support for the defense of Israel and ensure that the United States is prepared for various eventualities”a Pentagon spokeswoman said in a statement. Warships and combat aircraft will be deployed to the Middle East.
Earlier in the day, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated Wednesday in Tehran, was buried in a cemetery near Doha after thousands of worshipers paid their respects in the Qatari capital, where he had been living in exile. Vowing revenge, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah blamed Israel for the assassination, which came a day after an Israeli strike killed the Lebanese Islamist movement’s military leader, Fuad Shokr, near Beirut. The two attacks have fueled fears of a spread of war between Israel and Iran and the groups it supports in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
