US moves troops toward Israel, Lebanon amid fears of escalating cross-border gunfire

CNN
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The United States is moving its forces closer to Israel and Lebanon amid fears of escalating cross-border shooting, according to US officials, including forces capable of evacuating American citizens.

USS Wasp and its Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG), which includes 24^D The US Navy announced that a Marine Expeditionary Unit moved into the Mediterranean on Wednesday. One official said the deployment was part of a “long-planned effort.”

But fears of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah prompted the United States to move ships deeper into the eastern Mediterranean, the second official said, while Israeli officials said they were prepared for “intensive action” in southern Lebanon.

On Thursday, the US State Department again urged US citizens to “strongly reconsider travel” to Lebanon, warning that “the security environment remains complex and may change rapidly.” The United States did not order the evacuation of American citizens from Lebanon – a so-called non-combatant evacuation – but the White House planned for the possibility of this happening.

ARG Wasp Group, which was published in The beginning of Juneincluding the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York, and the landing ship USS Oak Hill. The Oak Hill was already in the area after transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on June 18. The Navy said Thursday.

NBC It was reported for the first time US forces movement.

The 24th MEU, operating from the USS Wasp, is capable of conducting special operations, and one of the primary functions of its mission is the ability to conduct evacuation.

In 2006, during the last war between Israel and Hezbollah, the State Department ordered the evacuation of noncombatant U.S. citizens in Lebanon, ultimately evacuating nearly 15,000 Americans in about two weeks.