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NewsRescue
According to The Intercept, US Air Force personnel in Iraq have been ordered to remain on standby in case of “on-ground US involvement in the Israel Hamas war,” citing a Pentagon memo.
The memo, which was circulated earlier this month, urges an unknown number of troops to be placed “on standby to forward deploy to support troops in the case of on-ground US involvement in the Israel-Hamas war,” according to the news site. The standby order covers troops stationed in Iraq since last year, according to a separate Pentagon memo obtained by The Intercept.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House has stated on several occasions since October that its support for the Jewish state would not involve American soldiers fighting alongside their Israeli counterparts.
The United States responded to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel by immediately dispatching two aircraft carriers to the region and preparing 2,000 additional troops for deployment to the Middle East, but White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on October 10 that “there is no intention to put US boots on the ground” in Israel or Gaza.
However, US special forces have been operating in Israel since October, with senior official Christopher Maier telling reporters at the time that American commandos were “actively helping the Israelis to do a number of things.” The Pentagon has also admitted to using spy drones over Gaza “in support of hostage recovery efforts.”
Since the conflict began, US troops in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan have been targeted over 150 times, with Iran-aligned Shi’ite militias launching regular drone and rocket attacks on their positions. One such attack on a Jordanian outpost on Sunday killed three US soldiers and injured several dozen others.
American ships and bombers have also launched repeated strikes against Houthi terrorists in Yemen, attempting to break the Houthi blockade on “Israel-linked” merchant shipping transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis have responded by attacking US commercial and military boats in the region. On Wednesday, the militants stated that they had launched multiple missiles at the destroyer USS Gravely.
