The US Air Force has deployed war planes and personnel to the Elefsina air base near the Greek capital Athens, Sputnik reported on 23 October, citing a Greek radio report.
“The first large US planes started to arrive at Elefsina air base, the home base of the 112th Combat Wing of the Greek air force … Other Greek air bases, including on the island of Karpathos, may reportedly be also engaged, if the US military approves their infrastructure,” Sputnik cites a local broadcaster as saying.
According to the report, a US base on the Greek island of Crete is already at full capacity.
“30 aircraft are stationed there at the moment, including eight aerial refueling tankers and 10 transport planes, as well as numerous US marines.”
It adds that Elefsina air base may be used to evacuate US citizens from combat zones, and serve as a “refueling and parking hub.”
The news comes as Washington has been reinforcing its presence in the region in support of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which has been threatening to spill out across the region and draw in other forces.
Two US warships have already been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean.
The Pentagon announced on 21 October that Washington will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and more Patriot air defense missile system battalions to the region.
“Following detailed discussions with President (Joe) Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East Region, today I directed a series of additional steps to further strengthen the Department of Defense posture in the region,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
The German and Dutch governments have also deployed Special Forces units to Cyprus in preparation for the potential breakout of regional war.
US defense officials recently expressed concern that their forces stationed across West Asia could be at risk of increased attacks given the explosive situation in Palestine and US support for Israel.
Reinforcing these concerns, a number of US bases across Iraq and Syria were targeted by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over the past several days. Among these bases are the US base in Syria’s Al-Tanf region and the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq.
Two more US bases in Syria were struck by Iraqi resistance factions on 23 October.
These attacks are being launched in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and in rejection of Washington’s support for Israel.
On 19 October, the Ansarallah resistance movement in Yemen fired three missiles north in the direction of Israel, which were intercepted by a US Navy warship.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has also been highly active on the country’s southern border, and has launched daily attacks against Israel since the beginning of Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October.
The anticipated Israeli ground invasion into the Gaza Strip is expected to dramatically escalate the situation, and may trigger a full and coordinated response from the Axis of Resistance, many analysts have suggested.
According to The Cradle’s Hassan Illaik, the ground invasion could result in a regional war.
“Such a battle is unlikely to conclude swiftly and could extend for months,” he writes, adding that Israel would face “fierce resistance” in Gaza and that Hezbollah could “expand its operations and potentially intensify the conflict.”
“If the US follows through on its threat to confront Hezbollah, this could pave the way for the group’s regional allies to target US military assets in nearby countries like Iraq which could flip the conflict into a regional war.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has made similar warnings.
“Other multiple fronts will open and this is inevitable” if Israeli war crimes against the Palestinians do not cease, he warned last week.