The source quoted American officials as saying that the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, aboard the attack ship USS Bataan, had been operating in the waters of the Middle East in recent weeks, but began making its way toward the Suez Canal late last week.
One of them added that the ship is currently in the Red Sea, and is expected to pass to the eastern Mediterranean soon.
This move would bring the Marine unit closer to Lebanon and Israel, and one of the unit’s roles would be to help civilians leave the area.
The White House said on Tuesday that it would be “unwise” not to plan for a possible evacuation of American citizens from the Middle East, including Israel and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is opening a front of clashes with the Israeli army.
But at the time, National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said: “We are not in the implementation phase now.”
On Friday, the US Embassy in Beirut once again urged Americans to “leave immediately,” stressing that the best time to leave any country is “before the crisis.”
The United States warned earlier that there was a “grave risk” that the war between Israel and Hamas would spread into a broader regional conflict, despite the efforts made by President Joe Biden’s administration to contain the crisis and make it confined to Gaza.
The greatest danger comes from Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where clashes with Hezbollah are still ongoing but so far remain at a low level.
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