WASHINGTON (Agencies): US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced, Thursday, the arrival of F-22 fighter jets to its area of responsibility as tensions run high in the Middle East, Anadolu Agency reports.
CENTCOM said the F-22 raptors are “part of US force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies.”
Tensions are running high in the Middle East following the 31 July assassination of Hamas political chief, Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and Israel’s assassination of senior Hezbollah Commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut.
Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of carrying out Haniyeh’s assassination, while Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
Iran vowed “harsh punishment” for Israel in retaliation for Haniyeh’s killing on Iranian soil.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese group, is also expected to retaliate after Israel assassinated Shukr in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on 30 July.
The US said it was not aware or involved in Haniyeh’s assassination and urged Iran and Israel to not “escalate” the conflict in the region.
Washington also said it is prepared to protect Israel from attacks from Iran and announced, Friday, that it would deploy additional military assets to the Middle East.
The escalation comes amid an ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 39,600 Palestinians following an attack on 7 October by the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, that killed 1,139 Israelis.
However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.