The deputy commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East region, touched down in Tel Aviv on Monday night for meetings with Israeli defense officials, local media reported.
According to Israel’s Kan News, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper’s visit came at the invitation of Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, amid the threat of war with Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists.
Cooper was set to meet with senior IDF and defense establishment officials on Tuesday, including IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
He flew to the Jewish state from Riyadh, where he discussed “bilateral ties and ways to strengthen partnership” with his Saudi counterparts, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday that the thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes by Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks will not be able to return without military or diplomatic action against the terror group.
Netanyahu “made it very clear that it will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north,” according to a readout from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
While Jerusalem “appreciates and respects” the Biden administration’s support, it will “ultimately do what is necessary to safeguard its security and return the residents of the north securely to their homes,” he told Hochstein during a meeting at IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv.
Earlier on Monday, during a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hochstein was said to have warned that a military operation in Lebanon will not bring about the return of displaced northern residents.
Hochstein informed Gallant that the U.S. supports a diplomatic deal with Hezbollah, including through a truce with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, a source familiar with the conversation said. The American envoy warned that military action would raise the risk of all-out regional war.
For his part, Gallant was said to have told Hochstein that only military action against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon can create conditions that will allow Israel to return the evacuees to their homes safely.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have so far killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of civilians remain internally displaced due to the violence.
