On Monday, the highest-ranking US military official issued a warning to Iran, urging them to stay out of the Israel crisis and expressing a desire to prevent the conflict from escalating further.
This caution came as the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into northern Israel. Earlier that day, the White House suggested Iran's complicity, even though the US lacked concrete intelligence or evidence pointing to Iran's direct involvement in the attacks by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel.
General Charles Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when asked about his message to Iran, simply stated, "Stay out of it." On Monday, Israeli artillery fire in Lebanon resulted in the deaths of at least three Hezbollah fighters, while an earlier cross-border raid, claimed by Palestinians in Lebanon, resulted in the death of an Israeli officer. This cross-border violence represented a significant expansion of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza to the Israeli-Lebanese border further to the north. In 2006, there was a brutal month-long war between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
General Brown emphasized the need to send a strong message, expressing the desire to prevent any further escalation. The US is providing additional air defenses, munitions, and security assistance to Israel in response to a recent major attack by Hamas.
Furthermore, the Pentagon has announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group closer to Israel, intending to show strong support for Israel and deter the widening of the conflict, drawing parallels between Hamas' actions and those of Da’ish.
General Brown, who previously served as the Deputy Commander of US Central Command overseeing Middle East military operations, has experience in overseeing coalition air operations against Da’ish.