The Pentagon announced Sunday that the US is deploying a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel, a strong show of support for Israel as it’s attacking UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and carrying out an ethnic cleansing plan in northern Gaza.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the deployment would include the “associated crew of US military personnel” to operate the THAAD. An unnamed Pentagon official told CNN that about 100 US troops are deploying to Israel.
Ryder said the US previously deployed a THAAD to Israel back in 2019 for military drills. The new deployment comes as the US and Israel are coordinating on Israel’s plans to attack Iran, which they expect to provoke a new Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israeli territory.
“The THAAD Battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” Ryder said.
“It is part of the broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months, to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” Ryder added.
Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to a string of Israeli escalations in the region, including the assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. The US helped intercept some Iranian missiles, but many made an impact.
Israel is planning to launch airstrikes against targets inside Iran, and the US is expected to support the attack in some way. NBC News reported the US is considering launching airstrikes of its own, but US officials said intelligence support is more likely.
