The U.S. has 2,000 U.S. troops “prepared to deploy” if necessary to help Israel in its war with Hamas.
The Department of Defense (DoD) first revealed the decision on Tuesday, stating in a press release that the measure “increases DoD’s ability to respond quickly to the evolving security environment in the Middle East.”
In the initial disclosure, the DoD made it clear that “No decisions have been made to deploy any forces at this time.” According to The Wall Street Journal, the troops that the order applies to would take a supporting role beside the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by mainly playing an advisory and medical support role.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus on Monday emphasized that although Israel is grateful for the support the U.S. provides in the form of intelligence sharing and military aid, they are not asking for any American soldiers to fight in Israel.
“The fighting will be done by the IDF,” he said, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Visegrád 24, which was later confirmed to be accurate by Conricus.
DoD Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh briefed reporters on Monday that DoD personnel were already in Israel providing planning and intelligence support for hostage recovery efforts.
“I … characterize it as an advise and assist role. They are there to help support and provide intelligence to the Israeli Defense Force[s], when it comes to hostage recovery. I … wouldn’t get into more details, other than that, but it is really to advise and assist,” she said.
Israel says that there are at least 199 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza after they were kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7 massacre of Israelis.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the U.S. has already sent two aircraft carriers into the Eastern Mediterranean, causing some experts to speculate that the U.S. military anticipates having to come to Israel’s aid at some point.
