U.S. rushes firepower to the Middle East as Israel braces for retaliation from Iran

The U.S. is sending a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and speeding the arrival of an aircraft carrier strike group, as Israel braces for retaliatory attacks from Iran and its proxies after the assassination of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Pentagon confirmed late Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the dispatch of the USS Georgia guided missile submarine to the region. He further ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which is equipped with F-35C fighter jets, to accelerate its ongoing transit to the area.

The orders, and the rare step to publicly announce the deployment of a submarine, came as Austin reaffirmed Washington’s “commitment to take every possible step to defend” its ally in a call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, according to a readout from the Pentagon.

Gallant “detailed IDF readiness and capabilities in the face of threats posed by Iran and its regional proxies, and discussed interoperability with the wide range of U.S. military capabilities deployed to the region,” his office said.

The moves came amid mounting fears that Iran might soon respond to the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a raid on his home in Tehran last month after attending the inauguration ceremony for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Both Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for the killing, and while Israel has remained quiet on the matter it is widely believed to have carried out the assassination.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “severe punishment” for the assassination, after which Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, was named as the group’s political leader.

But it remains unclear exactly how Iran plans to retaliate.

Reports of the country’s Revolutionary Guard beginning military drills last week stoked fears of a response that the U.S. and its allies worry could spark a broader regional conflict.

Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah similarly vowed retaliation for the killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut hours before Haniyeh’s assassination.

As tensions continue to spiral, the U.S. has ramped up pressure on Israel and Hamas to secure a cease-fire and hostage release deal that would end Israel’s deadly offensive in Gaza, where local officials say around 40,000 people have been killed in the months since Hamas launched its attacks on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage.

Israel has faced fresh scrutiny after launching a deadly strike on a school in Gaza City where displaced civilians were sheltering, killing at least 100 people and injuring dozens more on Saturday morning, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was targeting a Hamas command center embedded in the school compound and that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.” NBC News could not independently verify whether there was a command center at the school.

The White House said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” by the strike, noting that it has “repeatedly and consistently” warned that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm.