US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Pic credit: Twitter/@SecBlinken)
Rehoboth: Asserting that the Biden administration is ready to act if US citizens become the target of any such hostilities, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Sunday that the United States anticipates an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war due to the involvement of “Iranian proxies”.
“This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Blinken was reported by the news agency AP as saying. America doesn’t want to see its soldiers or forces come under fire, but if it does happen, they are prepared, he continued.
Austin, echoing Blinken, stated that they are anticipating a considerable uptick in attacks on their troops and civilians across the region. Austin claimed that the US has the right to self-defence and that they won’t think twice about taking the “appropriate action.” High-ranking US officials issued the warning as Israel’s military operation in response to a deadly Hamas attack on civilians in southern Israel villages on October 7 reached its third week.
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As the Middle East war seemed to go further, Israeli aeroplanes attacked sites throughout Gaza during the course of Saturday night and into Sunday. They also attacked two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank that militants were purportedly using. On Sunday, the US made the announcement that non-essential employees at its embassy in Iraq should depart the country.
Blinken, who recently spent several days in the area, warned of the “likelihood of escalation” but added that no one wants to see a second or third front open up in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza.
