The United States provided “some intelligence surveillance reconnaissance support” to Israel ahead of the latter’s preemptive strike on Hezbollah on Saturday night, but it “did not conduct any kinetic operations, as they were not required,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered an extension of the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group “given the tensions in the Middle East and given our commitment to continue to support Israel’s defense and deter potential aggression,” Ryder said.
“For operation security reasons, I’m not going to go into what that timeline looks like other than to say, again, he has ordered the two carriers to remain in the region,” he added.
Both Washington and Israel were “closely monitoring the situation” with Hezbollah, according to Ryder. “The fact that there was an attack clearly was demonstrative of the fact that they intended to attack,” he said. “But as for the decision calculus on, you know, why and when, I’d—I’d refer you to the IDF.”
Pressed on whether Washington accepted Israel’s characterization of its attack as “preemptive,” Ryder said. “Clearly, there was a threat emanating. They took action.”
In response to a different question, Ryder said “Israel was able to do that with its own organic capabilities and systems. Should there have been a need for us to do that, certainly we are posed and ready to go.”
