Lebanese side of the border with Israel, seen from Tyre, Aug. 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
The US did not assist Israel in intercepting incoming rockets or drones fired by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah from southern Lebanon over the weekend, according to the Pentagon.
Though the US did not play a role in shooting down the projectiles, Pentagon officials said on Monday that America furnished Israeli agencies with intelligence. The Pentagon stated that direct US intervention was “not required” to neutralize the threat to Israel’s security.
“The US is prepared, as we’ve demonstrated in the past, to use force in order to support the defense of Israel,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. “In this particular situation, given the threat that was launched from Lebanese Hezbollah, there was no requirement for the US to employ any of our munitions or capabilities to help defend.”
“In other words,” Ryder continued, “Israel was able to do that with its own organic capabilities and systems.”
Israeli fighter jets early on Sunday destroyed thousands of drones and rocket launchers belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, after detecting an imminent attack on the Jewish state.
Hezbollah, which is Iran’s chief proxy force in the Middle East, subsequently fired some 300 projectiles into Israel.
Several reports have confirmed Israeli claims that Hezbollah was preparing to target Israel with a major barrage.
The Pentagon claimed that it provided Israel with information regarding Hezbollah’s planned attack but added that it did not give Israel guidance on its preemptive strike against the Lebanese terrorist group.
“That was an Israeli decision to conduct those preemptive strikes based on information that they clearly had,” Ryder said, clarifying that the US was “not part of” those discussions.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stated on Sunday that the terrorist group carried out its strikes in retaliation for the killing of Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, in an airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon late last month. Israel claimed responsibility for Shukr’s death.
Hezbollah has pummeled northern Israeli communities almost daily with barrages of drones, rockets, and missiles since the start of the Gaza conflict in October.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate Israel’s north during that time due to the unrelenting attacks. Most of them have spent the past 10 months living in hotels in other areas of Israel.
“What happened today is not the end of the story,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the preemptive strikes. [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut and [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei in Tehran need to know that this is an additional step in changing the situation in the north and returning our residents securely to their homes.”
On Monday, Ryder said the US will continue to assist Israel in thwarting potential attacks from neighboring countries in an effort to prevent the Middle East from becoming enveloped in a regional war.
“We continue to assess that there is a threat of attack,” Ryder continued, “and we again remain well postured to be able to support Israel’s defense.”
In April, when Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israeli soil, the US and other allied countries helped Israel shoot down nearly all of the some 300 missiles and drones fired at the Jewish state.
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