US prepared to support Israel and defend assets against Iran, Pentagon says

Comments follow weekend escalation between Hezbollah and Israel on Lebanese border

Pentagon spokesman Maj Gen Pat Ryder. Getty Images / AFP

The US continues to be on alert for any attack against Israel by Iran or one of its proxy groups, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, adding that it remains prepared to defend its ally and American assets.

Iran has vowed to retaliate after a series of assassinations – blamed on Israel – of Hezbollah and Hamas figures in the region, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

“Iran has made those threats and has said that they intend to retaliate and so we have to take that very seriously,” Pentagon spokesman Maj Gen Pat Ryder said during a briefing.

“And so we will continue to remain postured, and we are well postured to be able to support the defences of Israel as well as protect our own forces.”

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin held two calls with Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant at the weekend, in which he “underscored the United States' ironclad resolve to support Israel's defence against threats from Iran and its regional partners and proxies”.

On Sunday, Israel struck Hezbollah in southern Lebanon with about 100 fighter jets in what it called “preventive strikes” against the Iran-backed group. Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel.

At least three people were killed in Lebanon and one in Israel in one of the biggest clashes in months of cross-border warfare.

For weeks, Hezbollah has said that it would retaliate against Israel over the killing of senior commander Fouad Shukr in late July.

The prospect of a widened Middle East war comes after 10 months of an Israeli military campaign in Gaza and amid stalled mediated efforts to end it.

The war in Gaza and its high death toll – with more than 40,400 Palestinians killed, according to local health authorities – have increased tension and led to armed groups launching attacks on Israel and US assets in the region.

The war started after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people on October 7.

Maj Gen Ryder said that the US is focused on ensuring that the conflict remains “contained to Gaza” and does not believe that the latest escalation will lead to a full-on war in the Middle East.

“You have seen the cross-border strikes between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah since October 8,” he said.

“What you saw over the weekend, of course, was a much larger scale than what we've seen previously, but it is, in our view, not a wider regional conflict at this stage.

"And so we're going to continue to stay very focused on de-escalation of tensions in the region and preventing it from becoming a wider regional war.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby earlier appeared on Israeli TV, during which he repeated US warnings to Iran not to escalate the situation and said that “we are going to be prepared to defend Israel if it comes to that”.