The Pentagon is moving U.S. military assets closer to Israel and Lebanon to be ready to evacuate Americans as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, according to three U.S. defense officials and a former U.S. official familiar with the plans.
The USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, and Marines from the 24th Expeditionary Unit, which is special operations capable, moved into the Mediterranean on Wednesday to join the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill and another ship in their amphibious ready group, according to the Marine Corps. The Wasp will operate in the eastern Mediterranean to be ready for a Military Assisted Departure and other missions, the officials said.
The Wasp and the Marine Expeditionary Unit are also intended to project military power and be a deterrent to regional escalation, according to a U.S. official familiar with the plans.
The move comes as tensions continue to mount and cross-border fire increases between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that Israel is going to carry out airstrikes and a possible ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming weeks, the officials said.
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