The head of a prominent Iranian-backed militia in Iraq threatened to attack U.S. military bases should America intervene in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, just hours after the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday to deter Israel’s hostile neighbors from widening the conflict.
“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.
Hamidawi also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets and called on fellow Iraqis to collect donations to support Hamas terrorists who, just days ago, massacred nearly 1,000 Israeli civilians and brutalized thousands more, including women, children, and the elderly.
The U.S. currently has 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq — and an additional 900 in neighboring Syria — who have been tasked with advising and assisting local forces in their effort to contain the Islamic State.
The head of the Badr Organization, an Iranian-aligned Iraqi political and military group, made similar threats on Monday.
“If they intervene, we would intervene … we will consider all American targets legitimate,” said Hadi Al-Amiri, an Iraqi politician who leads the Badr Organization.
The saber rattling from Iranian-backed extremist groups in the region came as the U.S. Central Command announced that the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford has reached the Eastern Mediterranean along side a strike force complete with at least five destroyers and enough aircraft “to deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen this war.”
“The arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation,” said General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.
#USSGeraldRFordCarrierStrikeGroup Sailors stand watch in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. @USNavyEurope @US_EUCOM pic.twitter.com/vos5tYHOZ5
— USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) (@Warship_78) October 10, 2023
Meanwhile, in Yemen, the leader of the Houthi movement warned that his fighters, who have been locked in a bloody war against Saudi-led forces since 2015, would respond with missiles and rockets to any U.S. intervention in the region, joining the other powers of what he referred to as the “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Iran-backed Shiite groups in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has already entered the war.
Just days after Hamas poured across the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon began firing rockets into Northern Israel, widening the conflict into a multi-front war. Then, on Tuesday, an Iranian-backed militia near the Golan Heights began launching rockets into Israel from Syria, prompting return fire from the Israeli Defense Forces.
The new fronts threaten to draw Israeli men and materiel away from Gaza, where the bulk of the fighting has taken place since Saturday’s invasion. The Israeli Air Force has bombarded Gaza with thousands of rockets and the IDF has begun massing tens of thousands of troops on the Gaza border in preparation for an expected ground incursion.