The Pentagon has selected nearly 2,000 more U.S. troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel should it launch a ground offensive into Gaza, U.S. defense officials said Tuesday.
The Pentagon said in a statement that while a decision on whether to deploy the forces had not been made, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s order to increase their readiness helps the Pentagon’s “ability to respond quickly to the evolving security environment in the Middle East,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Officials said the troops would be tasked with missions like advising and medical support, and that they have been chosen from across the U.S. armed services.
No infantry units have been ordered to prepare to deploy as officials stressed that no U.S. troops are intended to serve in a combat role.
However, on Monday, a U.S. official said that a U.S. Marines rapid response force consisting of about 2,000 Marines and sailors was sailing toward the region.
The Pentagon also extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its accompanying warships. The carrier is now in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The carrier and warships had been scheduled to return home next month. The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is expected to arrive in the region in the next several days, the Department of Defense said.
“The increases to U.S. force posture signal the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” Austin said in a statement over the weekend.
Those who have been selected are stationed both inside the Middle East and outside, officials told the Journal.
While they have been ordered to prepare to deploy, it isn’t clear what would trigger U.S. officials to deploy the troops nor where they would be sent, though officials said that at least some of them could enter the country to support Israeli forces, the Journal reported.
President Joe Biden is traveling to Israel on Wednesday and plans to go to Amman, Jordan, to hold a four-way meeting with King Abdullah II, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.
“He will reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination and discuss the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said.
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