WASHINGTON: The United States is boosting its forces in the Middle East by a “few thousand” troops, by bringing in new units while extending others that are already there, the Pentagon said. The increase in Washington’s military presence in the Middle East comes as the growing Zionist entity-Hezbollah conflict—which saw Zionist entity kill the Lebanese militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah last week—raises fears of a wider regional war.

“A certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region... will be extended, and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment” those that are already there, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists on Monday. “These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said, later adding that there will be “an additional few thousand” personnel in the region as a result.

The US Central Command announced Tuesday that three additional squadrons of warplanes were arriving in the region, while one was already present. Zionist entity announced Tuesday that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had briefed US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on “localized and targeted” ground operations targeting Hezbollah positions in South Lebanon—a further escalation of the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.

Austin said the previous evening that he had offered support to Gallant for “dismantling attack infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon. He also warned Iran of “serious consequences” should it directly strike Zionist entity in response to its attacks on the Tehran-backed militant group. Meanwhile, China said on Tuesday it opposed “infringements on Lebanon’s sovereignty” after Zionist entity said it had launched a ground offensive there, and that Beijing was “highly concerned” about growing tensions.

The Zionist entity military said on Tuesday it had launched a ground offensive targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, further escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds of people. However, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said the Zionist entity operation did not amount to a “ground incursion”, while Iran-backed Hezbollah denied any troops had crossed the border.

“China... opposes infringements on Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity, and opposes any actions that exacerbate conflicts and lead to a further escalation of the regional situation.” Beijing urged Zionist entity “to take concrete actions to de-escalate the situation”, the statement said. —AFP