US to Send Missile Defense System, Troops to Israel

Improve the News Foundation -
0:00
/1861

Facts

  • The US said on Sunday that it would deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system alongside US troops to Israel to help bolster the country's defenses in the case of an Iranian reprisal attack on Israel. The US has helped defend Israel from Iranian attacks twice this year.[1]
  • It has been widely reported that Israel intends to militarily respond to Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. It is not unusual for the US to have a select number of troops in Israel, as the two countries are close allies.[2]
  • In Gaza, Israel allowed food to enter the north for the first time in almost two weeks after it launched a military offensive in the area. Around 30 trucks of flour and food were allowed to enter via the Erez Crossing. The move comes as there are increasing reports of Israel putting northern Gaza under total siege.[3][4]
  • An Israeli airstrike on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza ignited a fire that burned several people. The strike killed at least four, with footage on social media depicting one person reaching their hands out from the flames as they were burned alive. Israel said it was targeting Hamas militants.[5]
  • In Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country's south (UNIFIL) said that Israeli tanks destroyed a gate and forcibly entered one of the mission's bases in South Lebanon on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for UNIFIL to withdraw, accusing the mission of acting as shields for Hezbollah.[6]
  • An Israeli strike on the northern Lebanese town of Aitou on Monday killed at least 21 people and injured eight, according to the country's health ministry.[7]

Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]Associated Press (a), [3]Timesofisrael, [4]Associated Press (b), [5]NBC, [6]Guardian and [7]Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by New York Times. Though the situation in the region continues to escalate, the US has stood firm in its role as a mediator. Israel has every right to respond to the daily terror attacks it has seen since Oct. 7. However, it's in no one's interest for tensions to explode into a wider regional war. The US will continue to work toward regional stability.
  • Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by Jerusalem Post. Hamas and Hezbollah continue to use the civilian population as human shields as they convert schools and hospitals into command and control centers. Indeed, Hamas is solely to blame for the destruction of Gaza and its impact on the civilian population, as it started this terrible war with the massacres of Oct. 7. Israel will continue to pacify the group and confront its regional enemies.
  • Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by +972 Magazine. Israel's true goal in Gaza is to starve and exterminate the civilian population so that the region is never inhabited by Palestinians again. Israeli politicians and military officials have been quite clear about the country's genocidal goals, yet the media continues to ignore their horrifying ambitions. This is a campaign of mass extermination that has received the full backing of the US.
  • Narrative D, as provided by Almayadeen. Israel has chosen to launch a civilizational war against the entire region, specifically Palestinians and the Shiites of the Middle East. Targeting lists leaked by Israeli media showed that Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest religious authority and a well-known moderate, was included as a possible target, proving that Israel's goal is to spark a religious war. Religious leaders like Sistani have consistently called for co-existence, which is exactly why Israel seeks to assassinate him.