Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the United States is sending additional troops to the US Central Command region, which covers the Middle East and parts of Africa, Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday (local time).

Ryder said that these troops will provide capabilities, explosive ordnance disposal, communications and other support enablers for forces already in the region. He said that additional US troops are not going to Israel.

While addressing a press briefing on Tuesday (local time), he said, “I can announce the decision to deploy an additional 300 troops to the US Central Command region from home stations in the continental United States. These additional troops will provide capabilities, explosive ordnance disposal, communications and other support enablers for forces already in the region.”

The region monitored by the US Central Command encompasses 20 countries, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and northern Red Sea, and the five republics of Central Asia.

“Please note that we will not discuss specific deployment locations for these forces, but I can confirm they are not going to Israel and that they are intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further bolster US force protection capabilities,” he added.

Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said that US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, during his remarks at the Senate testimony, said the US will continue to provide critical security assistance to Israel.

He said that Austin said that the focus of the US is on providing air defence capabilities, precision-guided munitions and more interceptors for the Iron Dome system.

According to Ryder, Austin said that the US is coordinating closely with the Israelis to help secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens.

Ryder said that Austin highlighted that the US immediately provided military advisors to offer best practises for integrating hostage recovery into Israel’s operations.

Lloyd Austin said that the US has strengthened its force posture across the region to deter any state or nonstate actors from escalating this crisis beyond Gaza, according to Patrick Ryder.

While addressing the press briefing, Ryder said Austin continues to remain in close contact with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant by phone and received updates regarding Israel’s operations in Gaza.
Ryder said, “The secretary commended the Israel Defense Forces’ commitment to hostage recovery” and re-emphasized the importance of conducting operations in accordance with the law of war. He also stressed the imperative to protect innocent civilians and allow unfettered humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels on Tuesday pledged more attacks against Israel if its war on Hamas in Gaza continues, saying it had already fired drones and ballistic missiles in three separate operations.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces… confirm they will continue to carry out qualitative strikes with missiles and drones until the Israeli aggression stops,” said a Huthi military statement aired on the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV.

It said Huthi rebels “launched a large batch of ballistic missiles… and a large number of armed aircraft” towards Israel on Tuesday, in the third such operation since the Gaza assault began on October 7 after Hamas militants staged the worst attack in Israel’s history.

Earlier, Israel’s military said a “hostile aircraft intrusion” had set off warning sirens in Eilat, its Red Sea resort, later saying it had intercepted a “surface-to-surface missile” fired toward Israeli territory, that was “successfully intercepted by the ‘Arrow’ aerial defence system”.

“All aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory,” it said.

Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Huthi government, on Tuesday said the rebels were “part of the axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes Tehran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and were fighting with both “words and drones”.

“It is one axis and there is coordination taking place, a joint operations room, and a joint command for all these operations,” he said.

“We cannot allow this arrogant Zionist enemy to kill our people.”

– Fears of regional conflict –

The Huthis seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 and control large swathes of the country. They have previously carried out strikes in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which carried out a military campaign against the rebels.

The United States, which has tense relations with Iran but has welcomed a de facto truce in Yemen’s bloody civil war since April 2022, responded carefully to the Huthi announcement.

“Anyone thinking about joining this conflict should not do it,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder confirmed that Israel took down a medium-range missile fired by the Huthis.

“As we’ve said before, we want to prevent a broader regional conflict,” Ryder said.

Israel had blamed the Huthis for a drone attack on Friday, saying its aircraft had intercepted “hostile targets” headed for southern Israel.

At the same time, six people were lightly injured when debris hit a building across the border from Eilat in the neighbouring Egyptian resort of Taba, the Egyptian army said at the time.

On October 19, the US Navy said it shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and “several” drones fired by the Huthis, possibly at Israel.

Israel has been pounding Gaza since the October 7 attack when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped more than 230 others.

Since then, Israel’s bombardments have killed more than 8,500 people, over 3,500 of them children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, an impoverished slice of land which is home to 2.4 million people.

Concerns are high over a regional conflagration, especially as Iran — which financially and militarily backs Hamas but insists it had no involvement in the October 7 attack — has loyalists and proxy fighters in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Since the Gaza conflict began, there have been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

On Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel had “crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action”, without elaborating.

The Israel Defence Forces on Tuesday claimed that it killed the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, Ibrahim Biari, in a strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, CNN reported.

However, Hamas denied the presence of one of its leaders in the camp, spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement.

IDF noted that Biari was one of the leaders responsible for sending ‘Nukbha’ terrorist operatives to Israel to conduct a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, according to a CNN report.

Earlier, the IDF spokesperson Lt Colonel Richard Hecht said that the IDF was targeting “a very senior Hamas commander” in the area around the camp.

In a statement, the IDF said, “A short while ago, IDF fighter jets, acting on ISA intelligence, killed Ibrahim Biari, the Commander of Hamas’ Central Jabaliya Battalion. Biari was one of the leaders responsible for sending ‘Nukbha’ terrorist operatives to Israel to carry out the murderous terror attack on October 7th. Numerous Hamas terrorists were hit in the strike.”

The IDF said Ibrahim Biari oversaw all military operations in the northern Gaza Strip since it started its ground operation. He was also involved in multiple attacks on Israel going back decades. The IDF said it had carried out a wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure belonging to the Central Jabalya Battalion, according to CNN report.

IDF in its strike damaged Hamas’ command and control and its ability to direct military activity against IDF soldiers in Gaza. It said that a “large number of terrorists” were killed in the strike, which resulted in the collapse of the underground infrastructure that was being used by Hamas.

Taking to X, the IDF said, “Over the past day, IDF troops operated in a Hamas terrorist stronghold in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. The stronghold was used for training and execution of terrorism activities. During the ground activity, the troops eliminated approximately 50 terrorists, as well as destroyed entrances to terrorist tunnels and weapons.”

At least 50 people were killed in the strike and subsequent collapse, The Times of Israel reported, citing Palestinian reports. The IDF reiterated its call on the residents of the area to move south for their safety, according to the report.

On Tuesday, Israel Defence Forces in a statement on X said another barrage of rockets just launched at Tel Aviv and central Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the fighting in the Gaza Strip is becoming “more complex” as soldiers operate deeper into the region, The Times of Israel reported.

He said, “This is complex hand-to-hand combat. In the fierce battles that took place today, we lost troops.” Hagari said two Israeli soldiers were killed on Tuesday as troops worked to capture a Hamas stronghold in Jabaliya, according to The Times of Israel report.

Speaking on an intercepted missile and several drones launched from Yemen towards Israel on Tuesday, he said, “There are many elements in the region that are under Iranian orders such as the Houthis.” He noted that they try to challenge Israel and divert their attention away from the war in Gaza.

Hagari further said, “We remain focused on the fighting in Gaza.” He said that the IDF “will know how to respond, at the time and place of our choosing.”