The United States said Monday that Israel remains under the threat of attack from Iran and its proxies, days after Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel in retaliation for the assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander.
"I would point you to some of the public comments that have been made by Iranian leaders and others. ... We continue to assess that there is a threat of attack, and we ... remain well-postured to be able to support Israel's defense, as well as to protect our forces should they be attacked," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder told journalists.
U.S. Joints Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown met Monday with Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant and Chief of General Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi in Tel Aviv, discussing both the Hezbollah situation and what is happening on the battlefield in the Gaza Strip.
“The leaders reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Israeli strategic partnership while also discussing the most recent engagement across the Israeli-Lebanese border and the need to de-escalate tensions to avoid a broader conflict,” Joint Staff spokesperson Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey said in a statement.
In addition to Hezbollah’s promised response for the killing of one of its commanders, Iran has pledged to respond to the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Tehran.
Speaking to Reuters, Brown said Iran wants to “do something that sends a message but they also, I think ... don't want to do something that's going to create a broader conflict."
Asked if the risk of an immediate widening of the conflict in the region had declined, Brown said, “Somewhat, yes.”
"You had two things you knew were going to happen. One's already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out," Brown said.
Earlier Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Italian counterpart that Iran’s response “will be inevitable, precise and calculated,” and that Iran does not seek to escalate tensions.
Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, while Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that Israel is “still facing an enemy in Gaza that continues to want to destroy the State of Israel.”
Kirby said Hamas still poses a “viable threat,” but that Israel has “destroyed an incredible amount of Hamas’ war-marking ability.”
“They've killed a high number of both senior, at the strategic level and operational and tactical, leaders from Hamas. No question they have diminished Hamas’s ability to resource itself and to man its ranks,” Kirby said.
The war in Gaza began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel during which the U.S.-designated terror group killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage.
The Israeli military campaign of airstrikes and ground fighting has killed more than 40,400 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count.
After several days of higher-level talks in Cairo to try to make progress in achieving a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, working groups are continuing this week to attempt to resolve outstanding issues.
Kirby said U.S. teams, which have worked along with Egyptian and Qatari officials to mediate the talks, continue to describe the discussions as “constructive.”
He said one issue being worked on is the exchange of hostages still held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including the exact numbers of people on both sides and the timing of those exchanges under a potential agreement.
“We want to get it done as soon as possible,” Kirby said.
