Pentagon moving additional assets to Middle East region in face of Iran threat, according to US official (2024)

The US Defense Department is moving additional assets to the Middle East region, a defense official told CNN, as Israel and the US brace for a potential Iranian attack on Israeli facilities in the country and the broader region.

The move is "to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for U.S. forces," according to the official.

The Pentagon has been working specifically to reinforce air defenses for the US troops stationed in Iraq and Syria, who came under attack by Iran-backed proxy forces over 100 times between October and February. In January, three US service members were killed when a drone got through US air defenses at the Tower 22 base in Jordan.

The US is not anticipating that Iran or its proxies will attack US forces as part of its retaliation, but are moving the assets just in case.

The European Council has adopted sanctions against three Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad entities, in light of "their responsibilities in the brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks" that occurred across Israel on October 7.

The listed entities are:

They are now subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban to the European Union, the EU Council said Friday in anews release, adding, "the provision of funds to them, directly or indirectly, is now also prohibited."

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz welcomed the decision. It "sends a clear message: those who murder, rape, burn, abuse the bodies of babies, girls, women, and men, and commit atrocities against humanity - will pay the price," Katz said in aposton X.

Some context: In March, a United Nations teamfound“clear and convincing” information that hostages in Gaza were sexually abused, and there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the sexual violence is ongoing.

CNN's Richard Roth contributed previous reporting to this post.

The Israeli military does not understand how humanitarian operations work, a top United Nations official said Friday, maintaining there is a "degree of mistrust" that needs to be resolved between the Israel Defense Forces and nongovernmental organizations on the ground in Gaza.

Fears over the safety of humanitarian workers in Gaza have risen in the wake of a deadly Israeli strike on April 1 that killed seven workers from nonprofit World Central Kitchen.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Jamie McGoldrick told reporters Friday that humanitarian workers "fear for their own safety" after the WCK killings and other incidents, such as an attack on a UNICEF convoy Wednesday.

"There's a degree of mistrust and misunderstanding that we have to address," he added.

CNN has reached out to the IDF regarding McGoldrick's remarks.

The UN official spoke to journalists after returning from Gaza, where he held a meeting with the head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman. During the meeting, he said they discussed interactions between Israeli soldiers and NGOs, concerns over "weapons discipline," and clearer markings on NGO-affiliated vehicles.

McGoldrick also highlighted dangers posed by inadequate communication infrastructure inside Gaza.

Israel’s former head of military intelligence is urging Israel’s leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to strike a hostage deal that includes an indefinite ceasefire and work with a reformed Palestinian Authority to restore order in Gaza.

Tamir Hayman, who now heads the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, said Israel risks falling into a perpetual war of attrition, where there is “endless friction” with its neighbors. He gave recommendations in a roadmap on “the day after” the war, which INSS released Friday.

A prolonged war, said the retired general, risks either leaving Gaza under Hamas rule or at the mercy of a power vacuum where various armed groups may compete for authority. Israel needs to work with a reformed Palestinian Authority, he told CNN, “instead of chaos, instead of no man’s land” in Gaza.

Hayman has warned of the urgency of these decisions, saying Israel will not “have any other opportunities” to do so, especially as presidential elections in the United States loom.Israeli leaders must “do the right thing” and not focus on achieving “immediate short-term” wins, Hayman said.

Remember: Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of a Palestinian Authority-ruled Gaza, and talks for a ceasefire-hostage deal continue to stall as Hamas tells negotiators that itcannot identify and track down 40 Israeli hostagesneeded for the first phase of an agreement.The Palestinian Authority governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but was expelled from Gaza by Hamas in 2007.

There is a "very credible" threat of Iranian retaliatory strikes against Israel, the White House said Friday, as US President Joe Biden receives constant updates on the situation from his national security team.

“We’re watching this very, very closely,” said national security spokesperson John Kirby, who declined to provide information about the expected timing of the threat.

But he said US officials were in “constant communication” with their Israeli counterparts about the matter and that steps were underway to ensure Israel is able to defend itself.

He pointed to a visit to Israel on Friday by US Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla to have “those conversations directly with his (Israel Defense Forces) counterparts.” Biden is also receiving briefings multiple times a day on the situation, Kirby said.

“He has made it clear to the entire national security team that that we will take seriously our commitments to the defense, the self-defense of Israel,” Kirby said.

The US is also assessing its own posture in the region ahead of the potential retaliatory attack, he added.

US markets react: US stocks slid and oil prices spiked Friday morning, in part due to worries on Wall Street about escalating tensions in the Middle East.

CNN's Krystal Hur contributed reporting to this post.

A surgeon who visited Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza after Israeli forces laid siege to the complex for two weeks said valuable medical resources were destroyed.

Dr. Athanasios Gargavanis recalled the scale of material destruction wrought in the wake of the attack, including an oxygen plant, a CT scan and laboratory equipment.

The specialized surgical buildings was blown out from the basem*nt to the second floor, the World Health Organization doctor said, adding further assessment by an engineer would determine whether the buildings could be restored.

Health workers in Gaza have claimed that Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex in March.

The world saw for the first time the full scale of the destruction left by Israeli forces on Al-Shifa when footage of the complex emerged on April 1 — the day that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed its withdrawal from the hospital.

The IDF claimed“hundreds of terrorists were killed or captured” during the two-week siege.CNN cannot independently verify the IDF's statement.

Israeli troops killed two Hamas members — Muhammad Essam Shahmawi and Muhammad Omar Daraghmeh — in a raid on the city of Tubas in the occupied West Bank overnight Thursday into early Friday morning, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The IDF described Daraghmeh as “a central figure in the region and in recent months planned significant terror attacks against Israel.” Israeli forces "located weapons in his vehicle... and confiscated them," the IDF added. CNN cannot independently verify statements from the Israeli military.

At least three other people were injured from live bullet rounds, including one who is in critical condition, the Palestine Red Crescent Society told CNN. Israeli gunfire targeted a PRCS ambulance, the organization added.

“A volunteer paramedic sustained bruises as a result of severe beating, after he was arrested from inside a Red Crescent ambulance,” the PRCS said.

Video of the Israeli incursion obtained by CNN shows a plume of smoke indicating an explosion, and sounds of gunfire in the area. Others show hundreds of people participating in a funeral procession for Daraghmeh Friday morning, carrying his casket with a Palestinian flag draped over it.

Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 462 Palestinians and injured about 4,700 people in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

At least 29 peoplewerekilled and dozens more were injured after an Israeli airstrike early Friday targeted a house belonging to the well-known Al-Tabatibi familyineasternGaza City, according to a local health official. Last month, an Israeli airstrike struck a residential block in central Gaza, killing 35 members of the Al-Tabatibi family.

Another airstrike later targeted an apartment building on nearby Yaffa Street, injuring at least three people, Mohammad Ghirabah, an emergency doctor at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, told CNN.

Video of the aftermath shot for CNN shows crushed cars and piles of rubble covering several hollowed buildings.

"We were asleep and then all of a sudden we heard screams and disturbances. Women and children (were) thrown on the street in the middle of the night at 3 a.m.," said Ziad Dardis, a neighbor.

"They gave us no pre-warning of the strike. The majority of those killed were women and children. This is the pinnacle of all crimes. They are taking revenge on our people,” Mahmoud Al-Nounou, another neighbor, added.

CNN cannot independently verify claimsabout the strike or casualtiesdue to lack of access to the strip.CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment but havenotyet received a response.

Khader Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is convening the war cabinet and senior defense officials on Friday afternoon local time (9:30 a.m. ET) to discuss "Israel's readiness for an Iranianresponse," an Israeli official with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

US and Israeli leaders said they were preparing for a potential retaliation by Iran or its proxies after a deadly Israeli attack on its embassy compound in Syria last week killed top Iranian commanders.

Diplomats have warned that Israel's war in Gaza could spill into the wider region.