US sending air defense systems, troops to Israel

The U.S. is deploying an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with dozens of soldiers to operate it.

President Joe Biden ordered the Pentagon to send the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system — known as THAAD — to Israel in the coming days to help Israel fend off potential Iranian missile attacks and add to the Israeli government’s already robust missile defense infrastructure.

The move “underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement Sunday.

The ground-based system that can shoot down ballistic missiles is the latest in a steady buildup of U.S. forces in the region as Israel and Iran have engaged in the most significant rounds of strikes against each other in their histories, deepening fears of a wider regional war.

Iran has already launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in two attacks in April and October, which the Israelis have largely defeated with the help of the U.S., United Kingdom and France, as well as other countries in the region.

The Biden administration has been in intensive talks with Israel on how they might respond to Iran having launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct.1 in response to an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

While most of those missiles were defeated, a few penetrated Israeli air defenses leading to some to minor damage at one Israeli military air base.

Over the last two months, the U.S. has doubled the number of fighter planes based in the Middle East by sending new air wings, and has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the region, the second time since the summer the U.S. has two carriers in the area.

During the October attack, U.S. warships in the Mediterranean fired at least a dozen missiles to knock down ballistic missiles, while the U.S. used F-15Es and F-16s to shoot down Iranian drones during Iran’s attack in April.

The U.S. sent a THAAD battery and other air defense systems to the Middle East after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians. This would not be the first time a THAAD with U.S. troops has been dispatched to Israel, but it is the first time one has been sent with the expectation of engaging in combat.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday, where he expressed concern about Israeli operations in southern Lebanon where Israeli soldiers are operating close to U.N. peacekeeping forces.

Asked on Sunday why he gave permission to deploy the THAAD, Biden responded “to defend Israel.” He ignored follow-up questions as he left to board Air Force One.