Pentagon Deploys 2,000 Marines Off Palestine’s Coast

This deployment comes in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian resistance fighters, resulting in thousands of lives lost this month.

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is leading this "rapid response force," which is currently en route to occupied Palestine on the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship previously stationed in the Gulf of Oman. While officials have confirmed the deployment, they did not specify the exact destination of the unit or whether it would join two US carrier strike groups already positioned in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Separately, on Sunday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an additional 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential "medical and logistical support" mission in occupied Palestine, as reported by multiple news agencies. This order does not indicate direct US involvement in the ongoing conflict with the Gaza-based resistance group Hamas, reports said. The White House has emphasized that it does not want to give the impression that American troops might become entangled in a hot war.

The Wall Street Journal, the first to report on these preparations, clarified that these troops would be primarily engaged in "advising and medical support" roles and would not serve in a combat capacity. Currently, these 2,000 soldiers are stationed across various regions, including the Middle East and Europe, and they have been placed on standby for deployment within 24 hours if necessary.

While the deployment is described as an effort to "forestall a wider regional war," it occurs in a context where some US lawmakers are advocating for direct military action in the Middle East.

The Israeli regime has been pounding the Gaza Strip for over ten days. More than 2,800 Palestinians have been killed and around 10,000 wounded in the Israeli airstrikes.