Blinken, Austin Say US Is Ready To Respond If US Personnel Become Targets Of Israel-Hamas War

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin say the United States is ready to protect American forces or personnel in the Middle East should the Israel-Hamas war escalate as they expect.

The two men say they expect the war will escalate through proxies for Iran.

Blinken says the U.S. doesn’t want to see escalation but he adds “we’re ready for it.”

The pair of top U.S. officials delivered the warnings as the war that followed a deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel entered its third week.

The U.S. State Department has ordered all non-essential personnel at the embassy in Iraq to leave the country because of the heightened tensions in the region.