On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, US President Joe Biden denied his request to Israel to postpone its ground attack in the Gaza Strip, after the American Wall Street Journal quoted American and Israeli officials as saying that Tel Aviv had agreed to a request from the United States. By postponing the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip until America deploys its air defenses in the region.

Biden said in a press conference that what he pointed out during his discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was that, “If the prisoners held by the resistance in Gaza can be safely released, then this is what we must do.”

The American newspaper indicated earlier that the Pentagon is striving to deploy approximately 12 air defense systems in the region, including American forces operating in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. To protect it from rockets and missiles.

She added that American officials convinced the Israelis to postpone the ground invasion of Gaza, until those defensive pieces were in place, as early as this week.

Threats facing Washington

American officials said that the threats facing American forces constitute a serious concern, and the US military and other officials believe that American forces will be targeted by various armed groups once the ground incursion into Gaza begins.

The newspaper quoted American officials as saying that, so far, at least 13 such attacks have occurred in Iraq and Syria, using drones and missiles, which led to the killing of an American contractor and the destruction of an American drone.

Defense officials also said that at least 24 soldiers were wounded in Syria and 10 others in Iraq, almost all of them with minor injuries.

This news was confirmed by the British newspaper The Financial Times on Wednesday evening, October 25, 2023, when it said that the United States is taking advantage of Israel’s postponement of the start of its ground invasion that it is preparing against the Gaza Strip, in order to accelerate the flow of its defense systems to the region, amid growing fears that... Iran and its affiliated factions will escalate their attacks against US forces and allied interests once the invasion begins, according to officials.

Frank McKenzie, who commanded US forces in the Middle East between 2019 and 2022, said: “It will be easier for us to deter them as more forces flow into the arena. Time is our ally here.”

The United States estimates that its move to deploy more military hardware to the region over the past two weeks - including the arrival of two new aircraft carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean - has helped keep Iran out of the fray. But officials say Tehran's proxies still pose a formidable threat to American assets and forces in the region.

A senior American official said: “What we are witnessing is disturbing. We have indications that there are groups in the region that have a desire for escalation, and that is why we have strengthened our military presence and conveyed a message that we have strengthened our military presence.”

Many officials said the United States was particularly concerned about Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is backed by Iran.

Officials explained that Hezbollah's movements represented an ominous sign of escalation even before Israel carried out its invasion of Gaza.

“The next opportunity that might present itself is a massive ground incursion into Gaza, because that would involve a lot of resources and put a lot of focus [there],” said retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who led US Central Command from 2016 to 2019.

It is true that the Biden administration's assessments indicate that Tehran does not want to confront the United States nor Israel directly, but it is expected to continue activating its regional proxies in order to launch attacks in its place. The officials said that Iran, in addition to supporting and encouraging attacks against the United States and its bases, in some cases facilitates their implementation.

“I think they don't want to get involved with us, and we certainly don't want to get involved with them,” said US Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, who has received numerous briefings on the ongoing conflict and the US response.

American officials said they were particularly concerned about escalating threats against members of American forces in Iraq and Lebanon, where they had requested the departure of everyone except emergency personnel. The Pentagon and the State Department are working on preparing contingency plans for more widespread evacuation operations for American citizens in this country and other countries in the region.

But Washington's allies in the Gulf, who depend on the United States for defense, may also be in a weak position.

Biden spoke with the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday, October 24, “and stressed that the United States fully supports defending US allies against terrorist threats, whether they are state or non-state actors.”

Former and current US officials said Washington and Tehran were climbing what they called an “escalation ladder,” with high potential for miscalculations or misunderstandings.

“We are one tragic incident away, one moment away from climbing another rung of the ladder further than we want to, and I think we were very aware of that,” Votel said.

Officials believe that Tehran feels it has a lot to gain from enabling proxy movements against Israel and the United States and openly encouraging and supporting these movements, even if it is not fully involved in the conflict.

“These moves strengthen Iran’s influence in the region, potentially limit U.S. influence and complicate the plans of moderate Arab states targeting an early rapprochement with Israel,” said Norman Rolle, a former senior U.S. intelligence official who focuses on Middle East affairs.

He explained that Iran and its proxies also believe that they are able to launch attacks to some degree without risking the situation turning into an all-out conflict.

Rule explained: "There is a widespread feeling in the region that Washington is unlikely to use its power against them, for fear that this might risk triggering a multi-year conflict, such as Iraq or Afghanistan."\

Source: Arabic post