US uses jets and warships as Iran threatens Israel

The United States will send more warships and warplanes to the Middle East to help protect Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said.

There is still tension in the region with the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and the top commander of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

Anti-missile forces have been put on a deployment-ready state, the Pentagon said, adding that its commitment to defend Israel is “ironclad”.

Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei vowed “severe punishment” on Israel for Haniyeh’s killing, and declared three days of national mourning.

The leader of Hamas was killed in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran and its proxy in Gaza blamed the attack on Israel, which did not comment.

Haniyeh, 62, was considered the general leader of Hamas and played a key role in negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.

His death came a few hours after Israel claimed to have killed Fuad Shukr, the commander of Iran’s military in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

A Pentagon statement said the new deployment “will enhance the protection of the US military… increase defense support for Israel, and … ensure the US is ready to respond to a variety of situations”.

The deployment will include other anti-missile defense boats and destroyers, he said.

The US military also stepped up deployments ahead of April 13, when Iran attacked Israel with drones and missiles. Israel and its allies shot down almost all of the 300 or so aircraft and missiles.

Israel has not commented directly on the strike that killed Haniyeh. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country had dealt “severe blows” to its enemies in recent days, including the killing of Shukr in Beirut.

He warned Israelis that “challenging days are ahead… we have heard threats from all sides. We are prepared for any situation”.

Earlier, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the US does not believe escalation is inevitable.

“I think we’re saying directly in our messages that we don’t want to see the situation escalate and we believe there’s something wrong here and that’s the ceasefire,” Singh said.

An Israeli delegation will travel to Cairo in the coming days for talks to reach an agreement to end the war in Gaza and release hostages, Mr Netanyahu said on Friday.

Hamas began the war with its attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people. Israel has responded with an ongoing military campaign in Gaza that has killed nearly 40,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.