FT: US takes advantage of Israel’s delay in Gaza operation to transfer defence forces
The US is taking advantage of Israel’s delay in launching a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to move defence systems into the region amid growing fears that Iran and those who support it will step up attacks on US forces once the Israeli operation begins, the Financial Times newspaper quoted unnamed officials as saying.
“The US is using Israel’s delay in launching a ground offensive in Gaza to deliver a defence system to the region amid growing fears that Iran and its proxies will step up attacks on US forces by the US and allied interests after the invasion begins,” the paper writes.
These US measures are aimed at strengthening its security in the region and creating sufficient defence capabilities to deter Iran, the Financial Times notes.
According to According to the paper, officials and military strategists in Washington welcomed the pause by the Israel Defence Forces, saying it gave the US time to send air defences, additional personnel and ships to the region to “protect its people and deter Tehran as tensions escalate across the region”.
According to the Financial Times, the US estimates that measures to increase its presence in the region over the past fortnight have helped keep Iran out of the conflict, but the threat still remains.
“What we are seeing is worrisome. We have indications that there are groups in the region that want to escalate, and that’s why we have increased our military presence,” the publication quoted an unnamed senior U.S. official as saying.
Earlier, the US military’s Central Command told RIA Novosti that more than 20 US servicemen had been wounded in increased shelling of their bases in the Middle East. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said Tuesday that US troops have been attacked at least ten times in Iraq and three times in Syria over the past week with missiles and drones.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said earlier at a UNSC meeting that the US does not want war with Iran, but would respond if its representatives were attacked in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
On the morning of 7 October, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation “Flood Al-Aqsa” announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. The organisation’s fighters then infiltrated the border areas in southern Israel.