US to send more troops and an advanced anti-missile system to Israel
Leo Correa/AP
- The US is sending more troops and an anti-missile system to Israel.
- The THAAD system will bolster Israel's air defense against incoming threats, the Pentagon said.
- It comes amid heightened tensions with Iran after Israel's assassination of Hezbollah's leader.
The United States is sending troops and an anti-missile defense system to Israel.
US President Joe Biden directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to approve "the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of U.S. military personnel" to Israel following Iran's attacks on the country earlier this month.
Iran's missile attack on Israel was in retaliation for Israel's escalating attacks on Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, in Lebanon. Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September. Iran also retaliated against Israel in April after Israel assassinated several Iranian military leaders in Syria.
"The THAAD Battery will augment Israel's integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States' ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran," Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement on Sunday.
Multiple outlets, citing the Pentagon, reported that the US will send about 100 troops to operate the air defense system.
The US previously deployed the THAAD system to Israel in 2019 for training exercises and again following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, the press statement said.
The United States has about 40,000 troops deployed in the wider Middle East, the Associated Press reported.