Virginia: The US is giving Israel its Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, which is a powerful anti-missile system, along with a US military team to run it.
What this means was made public by the Pentagon this weekend.
In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that Secretary Lloyd Austin had been told by the President to send a THAAD battery and crew of US military personnel to Israel to help strengthen Israel’s air defenses after Iran’s unprecedented attacks on April 13 and October 1.
“The THAAD battery will make Israel’s overall air defense system stronger.” In this way, the United States made it clear that it will always protect Israel and Americans living in Israel from Iran’s ballistic missile strikes. “This is part of the larger changes the US military has made in the past few months to help defend Israel and keep Americans safe from attacks by Iran and militias with ties to Iran,” Ryder said.
“This is the second time the US has sent a THAAD battery to the area.” “After the October 7th attacks, the President told the military to send a THAAD battery to the Middle East to protect American troops and interests there,” he said. He also said that the US sent a THAAD unit to Israel in 2019 for training and a combined air defense drill.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces said that a lot of anti-tank rockets were fired at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. During the attack, the IDF said that two troops were seriously hurt and many others were lightly or mildly hurt.
The IDF wrote on X, “Earlier today (Sunday), a large number of anti-tank missiles were fired at IDF troops in southern Lebanon.” Several other IDF soldiers were lightly to mildly hurt during the attack. Two troops were seriously hurt. Their families have been told about it.
“A first look showed that an IDF tank blocking a UNIFIL post while trying to evacuate hurt soldiers while still under fire.” As soon as the enemy stopped firing and the hurt troops were taken care of, the tank left the post. During the event, a smoke screen was used to hide the hurt troops as they were taken away. Soldiers from the IDF kept in touch with UNIFIL. “During the whole incident, the IDF’s actions did not pose any threat to UNIFIL forces,” the IDF said.
Earlier that day, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN, to pull UN military forces out of southern Lebanon, saying that “UNIFIL soldiers and Israeli troops” were in danger.
Netanyahu said that the fact that UNIFIL troops haven’t been able to leave has made them prisoners of Hezbollah, the terrorist group in Lebanon that is backed by Iran.
Today is the anniversary of the hard war that was forced on us. In a video message on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “We are marking one year of the war of redemption against Iran’s axis of evil, which has risen up to destroy us.”
He also said that Israel was determined to protect its security and beat its foes. He talked about the military’s successes in Lebanon and said, “We got rid of Nasrallah and his top staff.” Hezbollah’s weapons, command centers, and terrorist caves are being destroyed by our brave troops.
Elina Valtonen, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, was also worried about claims that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were targeting UNIFIL troops.
“Scary news that the IDF broke through UNIFIL lines. In line with international humanitarian law, Israel must stop attacking UNIFIL troops right away and make sure that all UN staff is properly protected, Valtonen wrote in a post on X.
