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REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Sunday the United States expects the Israel-Hamas war to escalate thru involvement by means of proxies of Iran and asserted that the Biden management is ready to respond if American staff or armed forces grow to be the objective of one of these hostilities.
“This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Blinken stated. “We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it.”
Blinken’s warning came as Israel’s military response to a deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in communities in southern Israel entered its third week.
Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza overnight and into Sunday, as well as two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants as the war threatened to engulf more of the Middle East.
Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group on a near-daily basis since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.
The U.S. announced Sunday that non-essential staff at its embassy in Iraq should leave the country.
Blinken, who recently visited the region, spoke of a “likelihood of escalation” while saying no one wants to see a second or third front in the war.
He said he expects “escalation by means of Iranian proxies directed in opposition to our forces, directed in opposition to our staff, and added: “We are taking steps to make sure that we can effectively defend our people and respond decisively if we need to.”
President Joe Biden again and again has used one phrase to warn Israel’s enemies in opposition to making an attempt to take merit of the location: “Don’t.”
Blinken, showing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” famous that further army property have been deployed to the area, together with two airplane service combat teams, “not to provoke, but to deter, to make clear that if anyone tries to do anything, we’re there.”
