The U.S. has not seen "any indication" that adversaries to Israel will attack while the latter fights against Hamas and other terror organizations in Gaza, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday.
Hamas and other terrorist groups based in Gaza conducted an unprecedented terrorist attack in southern Israel over the weekend, leaving more than 1,200 people dead and thousands of others injured, according to the Israeli military. Many of the victims who died were women and children. As Israel has launched retaliatory strikes, the death toll on both sides has grown to at least 2,200 people, including 22 Americans.
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Israel and its allies, including the U.S., have warned their adversaries in the region against trying to take advantage of a weakened or distracted Israel, and so far, they have heeded those warnings, according to Brown.
"I have not seen any indications of additional players that are going to get involved to the detriment of Israel," Brown said at a press conference on Wednesday. "And this is one of the reasons we addressed it — our force posture. It's not only in support of Israel, but it's also to deter future action. And those are the kinds of things and having talked to my counterpart from Israel, they were very appreciative of the steps that we took with our force posture. It helps to deter and those are the things we will continue to do."
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the movement of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean and also deployed additional Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region following the terrorist attacks to deter possible additional aggression.
“Let me say again, to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: don’t. Don’t. Our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear," President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan added, “We moved the carrier to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or non-state actors that might seek to widen this war.”
Israel faces Hezbollah from the north, in Lebanon, and there are concerns that they could launch an attack, forcing Israel to fight a war on two fronts. There have been limited rocket attacks from southern Lebanon since the war began, though it's unclear whether Hezbollah will start a war with Israel.
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Both Hamas and Hezbollah are sponsored by Iran, though Western officials have denied that Tehran was involved in the planning of or had approval over this weekend's terrorist attacks.
While U.S. and Israeli officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in the attack, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on Monday there’s “no question that there’s a degree of complicity here with Iran” due to their support for “Hamas for many, many years.”