US sending more troops to Middle East as Israel, Hezbollah tensions spike

The Pentagon announced Monday that it is bolstering its forces in the Middle East as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah spike.

The move, with an undisclosed number of troops, follows Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Hezbollah targets that killed at least 274 people and wounded more than a thousand, according to Lebanon's health ministry, and increasing rocket and missile fire on Israel.

“In light of increased tensions in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment forces already in the region,” said Air Force Maj. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. “For operations security reasons, we won’t comment on or provide specific details.”

There are about 40,000 U.S. troops in the region. The Pentagon has maintained a robust presence there since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, hoping to contain the fighting there.