US says moves in Middle East are defensive, goal is deterrence

By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is deploying additional military might in the Middle East as a defensive measure with a goal of de-escalating tensions in the region, a White House official said on Sunday.

Regional tensions have increased following the assassination on Wednesday of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Iranian capital Tehran a day after an Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Both groups are backed by Iran.

There are mounting fears that Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in Gaza, which began last October, 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.

The Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.

“The overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against those attacks, and avoid regional conflict,” Jonathan Finer, White House National Security Council deputy adviser, said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.”

The United States and Israel are preparing for every possibility, Finer added.

There was a “very close call” of regional conflagration in April, Finer said, when Iran launched an attack on Israeli territory with drones and missiles after what it called an Israeli strike on its consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on April 1 that killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The United States wants to be prepared should that situation rise again, Finer added.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday expressed hope that Iran would stand down despite its threat to avenge Haniyeh’s killing.

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

“This is no prediction about future events. It is prudent planning for them and for our government,” Finer said on CBS.

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

Haniyeh’s death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures in the Gaza war – with nearly 40,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry – and it fueled concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East conflict.

Hamas said it has begun a “broad consultation process” to choose a new leader to replace Haniyeh, who was the face of the group’s international diplomacy.

The United States and international partners including France, Britain, Italy and Egypt continued diplomatic contacts seeking to prevent further regional escalation.

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, will travel to Iran on Sunday in a rare visit to discuss regional developments with his Iranian counterpart, Iranian state media reported.

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 on Sunday, 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 result.