The US deployed a guided missile submarine to the Middle East on Monday in anticipation of an attack on Israel by Iran and Hezbollah.
The bolstering of the US military in the region comes as Israeli media reported that Israel is now expecting Iran to launch a direct attack by Thursday. This contradicts reports last week that American pressure on Tehran had managed to temper its expected response to the killing of Hamas’ political leader in Tehran.
Lloyd J Austin, the US secretary of defense, spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Monday morning, saying Washington is committed to taking “every possible step to defend Israel”.
Mr Austin also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to the Middle East.
The US deployed a separate warship to the Middle East last week, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, as both Iran and Hezbollah have threatened attacks on Israel in response to assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut and Tehran respectively.
Germany, UK, and France issued a joint statement on Monday morning, calling Iran and its allies to “refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions” and jeopardise a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Iran and its allies will “bear responsibility for actions that jeopardise this opportunity for peace and stability,” the leaders from the three countries said.
The fragile ceasefire negotiations took another hit on Sunday as Hamas announced it wouldn’t participate in the planned talks on Thursday, instead calling on Egypt, Qatar and the US to implement a ceasefire deal presented by President Biden in late May.
Mr Biden told CBS News on Sunday that his plan, which was endorsed by the G7 and the UN Security Council “is still viable.”
“And I’m working literally every single day – and my whole team – to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can,” he said.
Cairo, Doha and Washington called on Israel and Hamas to stop wasting time and making excuses for not signing a ceasefire deal last week. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, instructed his negotiation team to resume talks this Thursday to “finalise” the deal.
While Israel’s military remained on high alert across the country to defend against a possible major attack by Iran and its allies, operations against Hamas in Gaza continued, with the IDF calling on thousands of Palestinians to evacuate further from Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Dramatic footage on Sunday showed the moment an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Sheikh Radwan, a suburb of Gaza city, killing one person, according to local medics.
The IDF announced it had struck 30 Hamas targets since Saturday, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.
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