The United States will send an advanced air defense system (THAAD) and troops to Israel, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. The announcement comes as Iran warned Washington to keep U.S. military forces out of Israel.
Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had authorized the delivery of the THAAD system, based on President Joe Biden’s directive.
Ryder said the system will help strengthen Israel’s air defenses after two Iranian missile attacks in April and October.
“This decision underscores the ironclad commitment of the United States to the defense of Israel and to protect Americans located there from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” Ryder said.
The deployment of a sophisticated missile defense system to Israel risks further inflaming conflict in the Middle East, despite widespread diplomatic efforts to avert a wider regional war.
In a post on social platform X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi noted reports that the U.S. was considering deploying such a system.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon have clashed since October 8, 2023, when the Lebanese militant group began firing rockets across the border in support of its ally, Hamas, which operates in Gaza. At the end of last month, Israel launched a ground operation in Lebanon.
Israel is widely believed to be preparing a military response to Iran’s October 1 attack, which involved some 180 ballistic missiles.
In a brief comment Sunday to reporters before leaving Florida, Biden said he decided to deploy the THAAD site “to protect Israel”.
Biden spoke at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa after making a quick visit to take a closer look at the damage caused by Hurricane Milton.
It is not yet known when the THAAD system will arrive in Israel.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for the Israeli military, declined to give any timeline, but thanked the United States for its support.
The U.S. deployed one of the THAAD systems to the Middle East along with additional Patriot systems to bolster defenses for U.S. forces in the region late last year, following the Oct.7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
The Pentagon spokesman also said the US had sent a THAAD system to Israel in 2019 for training.
It is also not uncommon for the United States to have a limited number of troops in Israel, a country Washington considers a key ally.
In general, Washington has consistently had a small number of forces in the country, and has conducted routine rotational deployments for training and training.
According to an April congressional report, the U.S. military has seven advanced THAAD systems.
Each consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment, and 95 soldiers are needed to operate it.
THAAD is considered a system that complements the Patriot system, but that can provide protection to a wider area. It can hit targets at a distance of 150 to 200 kilometers.
