TEL AVIV — The Pentagon is moving U.S. military assets closer to Israel and Lebanon to be ready to evacuate Americans as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, according to three U.S. defense officials and one former US official familiar with the plans.
The USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, and Marines from the 24th Expeditionary Unit, which has special operations capabilities, moved to the Mediterranean on Wednesday to join the landing ship USS Oak Hill and another ship in its amphibious group ready, according to the Marine Corps. Wasp will operate in the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready for a Military Assisted Match and other missions, officials said.
The Wasp and the Marine Expeditionary Unit also aim to project military power and be a deterrent to regional escalation, according to a U.S. official familiar with the plans.
The move comes as tensions continue to rise and cross-border fires between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon increase. U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about the possibility of Israel carrying out airstrikes and a possible ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming weeks, officials said.
Despite pressure from the Biden administration, Israeli officials have remained steadfast in their desire to go after Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to U.S. officials familiar with the conversations. Israel hopes to create a 10-mile buffer zone above the Lebanese border, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
Israel wants to push Hezbollah away from the border and is pushing for a diplomatic solution, but if that doesn’t work, the Israel Defense Forces are ready to use force, an Israeli official said.
The aim is to return tranquility to northern Israel so that 60,000 Israelis who left in the past eight months because of Hezbollah rocket fire can return home, the official said.
Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are trained to help civilians escape dangerous environments. The Wasp also has offensive and surveillance capabilities, and can deploy F-35, US long-range stealth fighter jets.
The US is also talking to close allies to coordinate evacuations and any coalition military operations, according to US defense officials.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with senior Biden administration officials.
Iran and its Hezbollah proxies do not seek an all-out war with Israel and prefer the current situation, which puts Israel under international pressure, according to current and former US and Western officials. Fighting in Gaza and the north is depleting Israel’s armed forces, fueling internal political divisions and increasing tensions with Israeli allies.
US officials continue to say they still see no evidence that a major escalation is imminent, but warn that all it takes is one attack or miscalculation to quickly escalate the situation. Pressure from its northern citizens on Israel to act is “very real,” said a US official. Israeli authorities feel the need to do something, a US official said. “They feel the status quo is unsustainable.”
US evacuated 15,000 people in 2006
On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut warned Americans to reconsider travel to Lebanon. “The security environment remains complex and can change quickly,” the alert warned.
The State Department estimated in 2022 that 86,000 Americans live in Lebanon. In 2006, the US evacuated 15,000 people from the country during Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
Many humanitarian organizations have already evacuated dependents of their staff from Lebanon, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
CBC reported that Canada is preparing contingency plans to evacuate about 20,000 Canadians from Lebanon and that allied military leaders met Tuesday to discuss options.
Canada is preparing contingency plans to evacuate about 20,000 Canadians from Lebanon, officials in Ottawa said.
Canada’s Department of National Defense said the Canadian military is in contact “with allies and like-minded nations, monitoring the global landscape to maintain awareness of future threats that could result in calls for support of Canadians and Canadian interests.” .
Asked whether the U.S. is taking more precautions in the region as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah rise, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday: “It’s something we’re observe very closely. We continue to monitor. We also modify force protection procedures and protocols as the threat changes.”
In a statement, Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said restoring calm along the Israel-Lebanon border “remains a top priority for the United States and must be of the utmost importance to both the Lebanon as for Israel. We continue to work towards a diplomatic resolution that allows Israeli and Lebanese citizens to safely return to their homes and live in peace and security.”
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