August 2, 2024

US Navy’s guided-missile destroyer, on 01 March, 2019 [US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker/Released]

The United States has sent 12 warships and aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt to the Middle East in preparation for a possible war between Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iran and Israel, the Washington Post has reported.

This comes after Israel assassinated Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon on Tuesday and is thought to be behind the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on Wednesday. Iran has vowed to retaliate.

Some 4,000 Marines and sailors are onboard the vessels the US has assembled, according to the Washington Post, which quoted an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The USS Theodore Roosevelt was in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday with six US destroyers: The USS Cole, the USS John S. McCain, the USS Daniel Inouye, the USS Russell, the USS Michael Murphy and the USS Laboon. In the eastern Mediterranean were the three amphibious ships — the USS Wasp, the USS Oak Hill and the USS New York — and two destroyers, the USS Bulkeley and the USS Roosevelt,” the paper said.

No ships have been positioned in the Red Sea, the waterway guarded by Yemen’s Houthi group.

Israeli navy fires at Gaza fishermen

Israeli forces opened fire on a Palestinian fisherman’s boat off the coast of Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza. The fisherman is seen trying to row away in an attempt to escape the bullets. Many in Gaza have been left starving as a famine takes hold in the besieged territory amidst an ongoing large-scale Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion.

WATCH: Israeli navy fires at Gaza fishermen https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240224-israeli-navy-fires-at-gaza-fishermen/