Following the United Kingdom, which is deploying 700 soldiers to Cyprus to potentially get citizens out of Lebanon during Israel’s attacks against Hezbollah terrorists, the United States is sending dozens of troops to the island, anticipating Mideast evacuations.

Four American officials not identified told CNN about the move that comes after Hezebollah warned Cyprus, a member of the European Union, not to get involved or face consequences, seeming to suggest terror attacks on the island.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/25/politics/us-troops-cyprus/index.html

The American forces – the number wasn’t given – were said to be positioned if Americans need to get out of Lebanon and fire zones with Israel stepping up strikes after Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.

On top of Israel’s ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip in a hunt for Hamas terrorists who killed more than 1200 Israelis in Oct. 7, 2023 raids – and the anniversary approaching – the Mideast is seen as a powder keg that could explode into an all-out conflict.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said earlier the military would be deploying “a small number of US military personnel forward” to the region “out of an abundance of caution,” without revealing how many, what branch or where they were going.

Cyprus has been a jumping off point to take humanitarian aid to Palestinians trapped in Gaza, with more than 40,000 dead in Israeli air strikes and land attacks in the hunt for Hamas and hostages taken by the terrorists.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is “working tirelessly” on diplomatic efforts to prevent an “full-blown war” between Israel and Lebanon in the wake of Israel’s ongoing operations in Gaza.

“Risk of escalation in the region is acute, and I know that we are all very much focused on that,” Blinken told his counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

A US official told CNN on Monday that “we are the closest we’ve been to spiraling to a regional war” since Hamas’ 2023 attacks on Israel. The US is also worried that Iran, which backs Hezbollah, will get involved.