Middle East updates: US send more warships, jets to region

Israel conducted a drone strike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, killing five, including a Hamas commander, Palestinian media reported.

The Israeli military said in a brief statement on X, formerly Twitter, that it had struck a "terrorist cell" in the city of Tulkarm.

"An IDF [military] aircraft struck a vehicle and terrorist cell operating within the area of Tulkarm," the IDF said.

Hamas media confirmed the attack, saying that a vehicle carrying one of the commanders of the Tulkarm brigade and other fighters had been hit. 

Palestinian news agency WAFA reported four other unidentified men were also killed, citing health officials.

After the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr near Beirut earlier this week, tensions have soared in the Middle East, with growing fears over a confrontation between Israel, Iran and the latter's allies.

The United States will deploy more warships and fighter jets to bolster its military presence in the Middle East, protect US personnel and defend Israel, the Pentagon said on Friday.

"The Department of Defense continues to take steps to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran's partners and proxies. Since the horrific Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the Secretary of Defense has reiterated that the United States will protect our personnel and interests in the region, including our ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to Europe and the Middle East, the Pentagon said.

The statement comes soon after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. This prompted Iran and its regional allies to vow to retaliate, causing concerns about further escalations in the Middle East.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israel's military on Friday conducted airstrikes on Hezbollah militia targets in the border region between Lebanon and Syria. 

A source close to Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that a convoy of trucks entering Lebanon from Syria had been targeted. "Three Israeli strikes targeted a convoy of tanker trucks on the Syrian-Lebanese border," the source said, adding that one Syrian driver was injured.

The war monitor's head, Rami Abdel Rahman, told the DPA news agency that the airstrikes hit a weapons depot and a Hezbollah headquarters in the region. 

Israel is yet to comment on the strikes. On Friday, Lebanese Hezbollah had claimed responsibility for five attacks on Israel's military.

The two sides have exchanged fire often following the start of the Israeli military's retaliatory offensive in Gaza after a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7.

tg/sms (AP, AFP, DPA, Reuters)