On Monday, the highest-ranking US military official issued a warning toIran, urging them to stay out of the Israel crisis and expressing a desireto prevent the conflict from escalating further.
This caution came as the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah launched a barrageof rockets into northern Israel. Earlier that day, the White Housesuggested Iran’s complicity, even though the US lacked concreteintelligence or evidence pointing to Iran’s direct involvement in theattacks by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel.
General Charles Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whenasked about his message to Iran, simply stated, “Stay out of it.” OnMonday, Israeli artillery fire in Lebanon resulted in the deaths of atleast three Hezbollah fighters, while an earlier cross-border raid, claimedby Palestinians in Lebanon, resulted in the death of an Israeli officer.This cross-border violence represented a significant expansion of theconflict between Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza to theIsraeli-Lebanese border further to the north. In 2006, there was a brutalmonth-long war between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
General Brown emphasized the need to send a strong message, expressing thedesire to prevent any further escalation. The US is providing additionalair defenses, munitions, and security assistance to Israel in response to arecent major attack by Hamas.
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Furthermore, the Pentagon has announced the deployment of an aircraftcarrier strike group closer to Israel, intending to show strong support forIsrael and deter the widening of the conflict, drawing parallels betweenHamas’ actions and those of Da’ish.
General Brown, who previously served as the Deputy Commander of US CentralCommand overseeing Middle East military operations, has experience inoverseeing coalition air operations against Da’ish.