The United States wants to boost its defensive military capabilities in the Middle East. Objective: to ensure the security of its troops there and of its Israeli ally, the Pentagon indicated on Friday, August 2, in the midst of rising tensions in the region. During a telephone conversation earlier the day before, in the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris, Joe Biden had assured Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States was “committed” to the security of the Hebrew state in the face of “all threats from Iran.”
Key facts:
⇒ The United States will strengthen its military presence in the Middle East
⇒ West Bank: five dead in Israeli strike
⇒ In Qatar, thousands of worshipers bid farewell to the leader of Hamas
US to strengthen military presence in Middle East
The United States will deploy more warships and fighter jets to the Middle East to protect its troops and its Israeli ally against threats from Iran and groups such as Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
“Secretary (of Defense Lloyd) Austin has ordered a change in the U.S. military posture designed to improve the protection of U.S. forces, boost support for the defense of Israel, and ensure that the United States is prepared for a variety of contingencies,” a Pentagon spokeswoman said in a statement Friday. Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, the U.S. Defense Department expressed concern about “the potential for regional escalation by Iran and its partners.”
West Bank: Five dead in Israeli strike
Five people were killed in an Israeli army strike in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa, a hospital director and a witness told AFP, with the Israeli army indicating that it had struck a “terrorist cell” in the governorate of Tulkarem.
The director of Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem, on the western edge of the occupied West Bank, said in a statement that “five martyrs arrived at the hospital following an Israeli drone strike on a Palestinian vehicle near the village of Zeita.”
In Qatar, thousands of worshipers bid farewell to Hamas leader
Thousands of worshipers prayed Friday at a large mosque in Doha, Qatar, for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as Iran and its allies prepare their response to his assassination attributed to Israel. The man who led the political wing of the Islamist movement was later buried in a cemetery in Lusail, near Doha, in a private ceremony, his family said on X-Ray.
The Hamas political leader, who lived in exile in Qatar, played a key role in indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement for a truce in the Gaza war. Qatar, the main negotiating country, has questioned the viability of this mediation after his assassination, which sparked calls for revenge.
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Imam Arrested After Calling Haniyeh a ‘Martyr’
Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the High Islamic Council, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, 85, is “currently under investigation” for “suspicion of incitement to terrorism” for having, during the Friday sermon, “described as a martyr” the deceased leader of Hamas, his lawyer, Hamza Qatina, told AFP. Thousands of worshipers prayed Friday in a large mosque in Doha, Qatar, in memory of the Hamas leader, before he was buried near Doha, where he lived in exile.
Paris calls on French people “passing through Iran” to leave the country “as soon as possible”
France called on French nationals passing through “who are still in Iran” to leave the country “as soon as possible” on Friday afternoon, due to the “increased” risk of military escalation between Israel and Tehran following the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairswhich does not specify the number of French people potentially affected by this new recommendation, emphasizes that the entire Iranian territory is marked in red on the travel advice map. “It is therefore formally advised against for French nationals to travel to Iran, whatever the reason,” it adds.