The White House is preparing for the Israel-Hamas war potentially to expand across the Middle East and is focusing on making sure U.S. forces in the region have the protection they need.
Regional escalation has been discussed among top White House officials, Axios reported.
The issue was discussed Friday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on a call that occurred several hours after the Israel Defense Forces expanded its Gaza operations.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia's defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, is planning to visit Washington to talk to senior Biden administration officials. The visit was planned before Hamas committed its massacre in Israel earlier this month, which started the war. U.S. and Saudi officials share concerns about a regional war.
In addition, Israeli intelligence believes that Hezbollah in Lebanon will increase its attacks on Israel's northern border.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Saturday that Israeli ground troops had entered Gaza and called it the "second stage of the war." Netanyahu also said that it will be a "long and difficult campaign."
Axios reported that the ground incursion was delayed for several days because the U.S. wanted to get as many assets and defensive systems to the area as it could, with the goal of protecting U.S. troops against attacks by pro-Iran militias. Over 20 such attacks occurred in the past week.
Jeremy Frankel ✉
Jeremy Frankel is a Newsmax writer reporting on news and politics.
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