WASHINGTON DC: Hamas says its soldiers killed one Israeli hostage and wounded two others, as the White House warned an Iranian attack against Israel could be imminent.
A spokesperson for the Hamas militants, Abu Obaida, blamed the murder by the hostage’s guard on what he said was an Israeli “massacre” of Palestinians.
He said two Israeli female hostages were injured in a separate incident.
The news comes as White House national security spokesperson John Kirby warned that Israel and its allies must be prepared for “what could be a significant set of attacks” from Iran as soon as “this week.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday ordered the USS Georgia, a guided missile submarine, to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to accelerate its transit to the region.
Asked whether the submarine announcement was a message to Iran, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said, “Absolutely.”
“We’re trying to send a message, which is we’re looking to de-escalate the situation, that we’re looking to have capabilities in the region to protect our forces while also support the defense of Israel,” Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday.
Barbara Starr, a senior fellow for communications and policy at the University of Southern California, called the messaging an “important signpost” because submarines aren’t used for preemptive attacks.
“[The] US actually wants to ensure Iran KNOWS it’s there and ready to strike in defense of Israel,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday in response to VOA.
(VOA)
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