US to boost military might in Middle East

WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV — A White House official said the US is deploying additional military might in the Middle East as the escalation in the region prompts many countries to issue evacuation calls for citizens to leave Lebanon and Iran.

Regional tensions have increased following the assassination on Wednesday of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in Teheran a few hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from Hezbollah.

There are mounting fears that Israel's fighting against Hamas in Gaza could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict. Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for Haniyeh's killing, and they, together with Hezbollah, have vowed revenge. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility.

US President Joe Biden was expected to convene his national security team in the situation room on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East, the White House said.

US news service Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts from G7 countries that Iran and Hezbollah could start attacking Israel as early as Monday, citing three sources briefed on the call.

When asked about the report, the State Department referred to a readout of the call, where it said the ministers discussed "the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East".

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday that he ordered more ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the Middle East and Europe.

An additional fighter jet squadron will also be sent to the Middle East.

Jonathan Finer, White House National Security Council deputy adviser, said on the CBS program Face the Nation that the US and Israel are preparing for every possibility.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel is already in a "multifront war" with Iran and its allies. Netanyahu said Israel was ready for any scenario.

Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack early on Monday on northern Israel that the Israeli military said wounded two Israeli troops and set off a fire.

The group said in a statement it targeted a military base in northern Israel in response to "attacks and assassinations" carried out by Israel in several villages in south Lebanon.

The US on Wednesday urged its citizens who wish to leave Lebanon to start making plans immediately.

Security in danger

The British government advised its nationals to leave Lebanon. Canada told its citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, saying the regional conflict endangers security.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry also issued a similar travel alert on Monday.

The international community is gearing up efforts to cool down the temperature in the region.

Jordan's foreign minister made a rare trip to Iran as part of diplomatic efforts — "We want the escalation to end," Ayman Safadi said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov also discussed on Sunday the recent escalation in the Middle East.

The two ministers discussed the efforts made to de-escalate the situation in a way that preserved the region's security, stability and the interests of its people, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Haniyeh's death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures in the Gaza conflict, with nearly 40,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza's health ministry, and it fueled concern of a wider conflict.

Hamas said it had begun a "broad consultation process" to choose a new leader to replace Haniyeh, who was the face of the group's international diplomacy.

Violence continued on Sunday in the Palestinian territories.

At least 25 Palestinians were killed and several others injured on Sunday in an Israeli strike targeting two schools that were sheltering displaced people near Gaza City, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

Another strike hit a tent inside a hospital compound in central Gaza, killing at least five people, Gaza health officials said, after another round of talks ended without a result.

Agencies - Xinhua