Increased US presence in the region, including the impending visit of US President Joe Biden, is deterring Hezbollah from larger war, but is not delaying an IDF invasion of Gaza, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari claimed on Tuesday.
Regarding Hezbollah, Hagari said that dozens of US aircraft now in the region can each carry out around 160 attacks, exponentially increasing the threat to Hezbollah and Iran should choose to join the Israel-Gaza war in a more aggressive manner.
The chief IDF spokesman also said that the US naval vessels with the UE Aegis system gave Israel an additional layer of defense against attack.
The highly advanced Aegis Combat System integrates computers and radars to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets, though Hagari said he expected it to be used for Israel only on defense.
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He offered statements by top Iranian leaders accusing the US of joining the war as evidence of the American impact.
Hagari also claimed that neither Biden’s visit nor the visit in the last few days of other top US officials had or would delay the IDF’s invasion of Gaza – despite the fact that the IDF appeared prepared to invade Thursday-Friday of last week with a dramatic warning to Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours – with no real military change following that warning.
Top sources had also told the Jerusalem Post multiple times last week that the initial plan was for an invasion within one week of Hamas’ October 7 invasion.
Since then, those sources have altered their tunes, citing a variety of factors including worries that Hezbollah is waiting for the IDF to go into Gaza and will then launch a large assault on the North.
Pressed for evidence that the delay and any further delay of an invasion of Gaza was not connected to Biden’s visit, Hagari gave none and simply stuck with the standard line that the IDF determines its own military plans.
In contrast to Hagari’s statement, there are voluminous times in history past and more recent, where Israel’s government allowed US pressure to deeply influence military plans.
Hagari also said that US forces in the region were a strategic asset for Israel, not to be overlooked.
This is a developing story.
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