Fact Check: How Far Does US Military Involvement in Palestine-Israel Crisis Go?
In the wake of the October 7 ambush of Israeli communities by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other Islamist groups, Washington dispatched its naval forces to the Eastern Mediterranean in a bid to deter Tel Aviv's regional rivals amid the unfolding chaos. What's more, US Marines and Special Ops are also reportedly going to be sent to the region. On top of that, the Pentagon is said to be expanding a secret military base in Israel.
Two US Carrier Strike Groups in Eastern Mediterranean
The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group transited the Strait of Gibraltar on October 28. The group includes the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), Arleigh Burke–class destroyers Gravely (DDG-107) and Mason (DDG-87) and the guided-missile cruiser Philippine Sea (CG-58).
While the USS Ford can carry up to 75 warplanes, the USS Eisenhower can host up to 60 aircraft, meaning the deployment of an additional 120 US fighters in the region. The US press claims that the warships and the aircraft are aimed at deterring Iran and Hezbollah.
Over 2,000 US Marines Aboard Three Warships
In addition to the deployment of the two aforementioned strike groups, the USS Bataan (LHD-5) and the USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) had reportedly entered the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden on October 27. The two vessels were set to join the USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19), an amphibious warship deployed in the Mediterranean.
The three ships are carrying 2,200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit as part of their "regular deployment" to the Middle East, per the US mainstream press. The Marines have reportedly been trained to evacuate civilians in conflict zones. The US Department of Defense asserted to the press that they would not be involved in any fighting.
The massing of US naval groups in the Eastern Mediterranean has become the largest in decades, according to the US media.
2,000 US Troops Were Given 'Prepare to Deploy Orders'
In mid-October, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered around 2,000 US troops from various military branches to be ready to be deployed to the Middle East on 24 hours' notice. The Pentagon officially stated that it had put its 2,000-contingent on PTDO (Prepare to Deploy Orders) in order to send them to the Middle Eastern if needed "as deterrent."
US Special Ops Deployed in Israel
The US has dispatched its Special Forces to Israel to assist in locating over 200 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, the American press reported. Christopher P. Maier, an assistant secretary of defense, told a special operations conference on Tuesday that the US is "actively helping the Israelis to do a number of things."
However, Salman al-Harfi, ex-Palestinian ambassador to France, told Sputnik earlier this week that the US is trying to conceal the fact that their military are already taking part in Israeli operations.
"They not only support [Israel], but are also participating in the war against the Palestinian people. The United States is sending military personnel to the area. They are involved in military operations on the ground in Gaza,” Harfi told Sputnik on Monday.
US Top Military Advisers on the Ground
Glynn is famous for commanding US forces during the bloodiest battles in Fallujah in 2004. The Iraqis sustained massive casualties in the First and Second Battles of Fallujah with much of the city being destroyed and thousands of civilians killed.
Meanwhile, the US top brass are persuading their Israeli counterparts to resort to surgical airstrikes and targeted Spec Ops raids instead of launching a full-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip. To date, over 8,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
US-led Multinational Force to Oversee Gaza
"We can’t have a reversion to the status quo with Hamas running Gaza," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. "We also can’t have — and the Israelis start with this proposition themselves — Israel running or controlling Gaza," the top US diplomat emphasized.
However, White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson specified to the US media on October 31 that "sending US troops to Gaza as part of a peacekeeping force is not something that’s being considered or is under discussion."
Secret US Military Airbase in Israel
Previously, the secret US base has for years hosted a radar facility atop Mt. Har Qeren controlling the skies over Israel, per the media. The contract envisaging the expansion of "Site 512" was inked just two months before the deadly Hamas assault on Israeli communities. The Pentagon did not respond to the media's request to comment on the development.
Despite the Biden administration denying the plans of US military presence in Israel, there have long been limited American contingents on the ground, the media outlet argued. One such rare acknowledgment of US presence there surfaced in 2017, when Israeli Air Force's Brig. Gen. Tzvika Haimovitch stated: "We established an American base in the State of Israel, in the Israel Defense Forces, for the first time." A day later, the US military resolutely denied that it was "an American base", calling it "a living facility" for US troops. It appears that Washington wants to keep its real Israel strategy hush-hush, the media assumed.
While Kamala Harris and other Biden administration officials are continuing to insist that the US does not have any plans to participate in the Gaza war, facts on the ground show Washington's deeper and deeper involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli debacle.