DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH:  So, I'm just going to read a few things that I have at the top and then happy to take your questions.

So as you know, on Friday, Secretary Austin visited Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Gallant, as well as the Israeli War Cabinet.  Since leaving Israel, he has held calls with MOD Gallant almost on a near daily basis and will likely have another call today.  We are working to meet Israel's needs, which include air defense, precision-guided munitions, artillery, and medical supplies.  Sorry, let me stop there.

On hostage recovery, as you've heard us say, we're providing planning and intelligence support to Israel, which is in the lead.  We do not have -- we do have a small number of personnel in Israel in support of this effort, as augmentation to the embassy staff.

As the President stated, any presence of military personnel will be to advise and consult on hostage recovery efforts.  This is the extent of information we have to offer at this time, and I could -- just can't get into more specifics on -- on how many people and any further details on our intelligence sharing.

The department remains focused -- focused on the following -- supporting Israel's defenses, containing the conflict to Gaza and deterring others from entering the battle space, and on U.S. force protection.

And with that, I will -- I will take your questions.  Tara?

Q:  Thanks.  So a couple of questions on the two U.S. Iron Domes.  Is the U.S. look -- or is the Pentagon looking at ways to get around some of the legislative hurdles there might be to provide those to Israel?  And has Israel asked for them?

And then secondly on the ships, can you give us any sort of sense of what those ships will be doing?  Will they provide any sort of air cover for Israel if they're incoming from, say, Hezbollah?  Just some sort of idea of what's going on there?

MS. SINGH:  Sure.  So for -- in terms of the carrier that's in the region right now, you're talking -- referring to the Ford?  They're strictly for deterrence purposes.

I don't have more in terms of what other activities they'll be doing, other than just to further deter and to send a -- a -- a pretty clear message into the region that -- I think you heard Secretary Austin speak to this and the President -- that for any other actors considering getting involved in this conflict, don't.  So that's the -- the main priority of the carrier being there now.

In terms of what we're providing Israel and what they've requested, I think I read out at the top that, you know, they've requested munitions, air defense capabilities, things like that.  I'm not going to get into more specifics other than what the Secretary said, is that they have of course requested more Iron Dome interceptors, but in terms of where those come from, different stockpiles, things like that, I'm just not going to get into more details.

Q:  But they haven't requested the two Iron Domes themselves that we have --

MS. SINGH:  I'm just not going to get any further than that.

Idrees?

Q:  I think it was on Friday that the Defense Secretary said he had not seen a massing of Hezbollah forces on the border with Lebanon.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  Is there any update?  Is that still your assessment?

MS. SINGH:  Yeah, I don't have any update from what the Secretary said on -- on Friday or Saturday.  I can't remember when that was.  So yeah, I don't have anything further on that.

Yeah?

Q:  So Sabrina, a couple of questions.  So the -- probably you saw the reporting from Wall Street Journal today that the -- the Secretary and the Pentagon selected 2,000 U.S. forces to potentially be deployed to play a advisory and maybe medical support role.  Can you give us more details on this?  Could you confirm the report?

And second, well, in Israeli leadership, very clear that they want to have an incursion yesterday.  President Biden said we (inaudible) this (inaudible) could be a mistake but going in and taking out Hamas, that's something the administration supports.  Will the -- the carrier group and -- be playing a role in supporting this incursion, in terms of intelligence?

And finally, when the Secretary says, like, he didn't see any massing of forces of Hezbollah on the border, this is the guerrilla force.  When was the last time you saw them attack one of tactic by Hezbollah?

MS. SINGH:  So there are about 20 questions in there.

Q:  Three -- three -- three.

MS. SINGH:  Three questions with many parts.  Okay, so let me see if I remember.

So on the Wall Street Journal reporting, I don't have more to provide at this time.  I might be able to give you more details later, but at this time, I just don't have anything more specific to add to.

On the -- I'm sorry, your second question was on the carrier group and what --

Q:  -- like they -- intelligence sharing.  In case there's a incursion, will that apply to the -- supporting the forces on the ground -- Israeli forces inside of this (inaudible) with intelligence?

MS. SINGH:  Well, I won't get into the specifics of our intelligence sharing but one of the things that I think we've said early on that you're -- that you probably know is part of what the intelligence that we are sharing is for hostage recovery.

So whether that's an incursion, if Israel were to launch a ground incursion in, and part of that would be, you know, of course if they were be -- engaging in hostage recovery, of course we're going to be providing intelligence for them to do so and -- and to help with that.  But again, our role is just advise and assist in this right now.

And then your third question -- I'm sorry, I wrote down -- I wrote down incursion and intelligence but maybe that was your second question.

Q:  -- yeah, the Secretary said, like, he haven't observed any major movement or massing of forces of Hezbollah.  This is a guerrilla force.

MS. SINGH:  Yep.

Q:  I was wondering if you've ever seen something like this happen, you know, in -- in previous wars?

MS. SINGH:  I wouldn't speak to our intelligence on -- on what -- on I guess amassing at the border previously.  I'm not aware of, like, size and scale to other incidents.  I just don't -- I just don't have that at the top of my head.

Q:  -- let me explain my question more --

MS. SINGH:  Sure.

Q:  -- what I'm getting at.  It seems like that -- that statement was meant to kind of play down any major activities on the border by Hezbollah or readiness to get involved in the war.  And so the -- the fact that we didn't see any movement kind of goes into that.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah, I don't --

Q:  Yeah.

MS. SINGH:  -- I don't have any more -- thing to add to that.  I mean, Idrees asked this same question.  I think that's what you're getting at, and I just don't have more than what the Secretary said.

Q:  Okay.

MS. SINGH:  Great.  Liz?

Q:  Does the U.S. have any forces or personnel on the ground assisting with where exactly the military aid is going and just sort of helping to keep track of that?

MS. SINGH:  Not in terms of, like, assisting with, like, the -- I mean, we have folks obviously assisting with the delivery of aid of getting to Israel but not folks on the ground, in terms of, like, taking things off our gray tails or -- or any C-17 that might be landing.  That's -- the Israeli Defense Forces are doing that.

Q:  Okay.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  And then just a second, separate question, how would you characterize the military personnel sent into Israel after the conflict has begun to help with hostage recovery efforts and -- like, how would you characterize that --

MS. SINGH:  So I -- it -- characterize it as an advise and assist role.  They are there to help support and provide intelligence to the Israeli Defense Force, when it comes to hostage recovery.  I don't have -- I'm -- wouldn't get into more details, other than that, but it is really to advise and assist.

Q:  Do you have any picture of, like, how many personnel?

MS. SINGH:  No, I won't get into how many personnel are on the ground.

Yeah, Missy?

Q:  So just -- just to follow up --

MS. SINGH:  Sure.

Q:  -- so -- but the -- you said that that -- that group is specifically working on hostage recovery, not broader military advising, correct?

MS. SINGH:  They're there for mainly the hostage recovery --

Q:  Okay.

MS. SINGH:  -- and advising, assisting in that.

Q:  And are they under embassy chief of mission authority as part of, like, the Security Cooperation Office or are they tasked under the military chain of command as part of, like, the carrier group or something else?

MS. SINGH:  You know what?  That is a great question.  I'm going to take that cause I don't -- I don't know that answer off the top of my head.

Q:  Okay, thanks.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.  Oren?

Q:  Just a quick follow-up and another question.  Has Israel accepted the offer of planning and intel help with the hostage recovery?  Because we know the offer was out there, but wasn't clear whether they had accepted the help of the team there.  Have they officially accepted the help?  And is there cooperation, or is it the offer is still out there?

MS. SINGH:  No, we're -- we're working with them.  We're -- our -- our folks that are at the embassy right now are in touch with their IDF counterparts and working on hostage recovery.

Q:  And then another question just on -- has -- have U.S. forces in in Syria taken any additional force protection measures?  And have you seen any -- any reason to believe there's increased threat from either Shiite militias in Syria or -- or the Iranian Navy in the Gulf?

MS. SINGH:  I mean, our forces are always on alert, I think, in the -- in the region, especially given the most recent events that happened in Israel.  Cert- -- certainly, there are measures being taken place (sic) that commanders are using at their discretion in terms of directing folks either on base or providing guidance on -- on security measures that they should be taken (sic).  But you know, we haven't seen anything new or any changes within Syria or Iraq in the last -- I don't know, from this weekend.  But of course, it's at the discretion of the commanders.

Let's see -- Nick.  Welcome back.

Q:  Thank you, thank you.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  In our interview on Satur- -- this Saturday morning, which was like an eternity ago, (inaudible) --

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.  Well, it ran yesterday, so --

Q:  Well, Saturday (inaudible).

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  The secretary was unwilling to say that the Israelis have been following the rules of war at that moment.  Is that even an assessment that DOD or the U.S. is doing ongoing, whether the Israelis are following the rules of war?

MS. SINGH:  Well, I watched your interview twice, so I don't know that he said that exactly.  He said that we've been encouraged of what -- in his conversations with Gallant and others when he was on the ground, and then post, when he was, of course, flying back and -- and back in the U.S., is that we've, of course, encouraged Israel to follow the laws of war.  That's what strong democracies do.  That's what the conversations have been, and I think we've been encouraged by those conversations.  But I don't think he -- he's -- the way you framed it.  I don't know that he said definitively that they were.  (inaudible).

Q:  Oh, no, he said -- he was -- he -- he -- he did not say whether or not they were.

MS. SINGH:  I think we are --

Q:  So that's why I'm wondering if there's --

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  -- even an assessment going on as to whether they are or not.

MS. SINGH:  I think right now, we are continuing active conversations with them, of course, consulting with them on any -- or working with them and getting more information on what a ground incursion might look like.  But you know, the secretary and -- and others in this administration feel pretty confident in Israel's democracy, and that they would uphold the -- the laws of war.

Q:  Okay.  And then the other one is --

MS. SINGH:  Sure.

Q:  Talking to IDF folks over the last few days, they seem to suggest that the hostage operation, the hostage overall focus is actually more of a diplomatic and intelligence one.  Obviously, you know, we are all focused, as you guys have been talking about.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  But do you understand this to be primarily an IDF and with DOD's help, or is this actually as much, if not more in the category of diplomatic and intelligence?

MS. SINGH:  I think it's certainly both.  I think you're seeing the secretary of state engage with partners in the region to see what we can do not only to secure safe passage of those that are in Gaza, but also working to see what we can do to secure the release of hostages in Gaza.

The Department of Defense has offered its intelligence services and capabilities to the IDF to help with hostage recovery, so I certainly think it's a combination of both, and it doesn't just stop there, right?  This is a full -  all levels of government are engaging on this, from the White House on down.  And so I think it's a combination.

Q:  Meaning it's still possible that it would be a military operation, not just a diplomatic agreement?

MS. SINGH:   I don't -- I mean, at this point, I -- I don't think there's one way or the other.  I think we'd love to see any type of hostage recovery as a result of diplomatic negotiations.  But again, we are working to support the IDF and what they need.

Konstantin?

Q:  Thanks, Sabrina.  Are there any Special Forces assets embarked on the U.- -- on the Ford Carrier Strike Group or on the Eisen- -- Eisenhower Strike Group that's going to join the force?

MS. SINGH:  Yeah, I just won't get in -- I'm just not going to get into that.

Q:  Okay.  And then I -- from what I understand, the Bataan and its associated Marine Expeditionary Unit has moved from sort of the Persian Gulf area to the Gulf of Oman area.  Is that at all an indication that they're going to chop into the Med as well anytime soon?

MS. SINGH:  Right now, I don't have any further comment on that.  That is really -- they are being made available in case there is a need.  But right now, they are just -- they are just there in the region and will be able support, if needed in any way.

Q:  Thank you.

MS. SINGH:  Mike, do you have a question?

Q:  Yes, I do.  Can you confirm whether or not any of the people in Israel now are with JSOC J2, or with Task Force Orange involved in support activity or anybody like that?

MS. SINGH:  I cannot.

Q:  Okay.

Q:  Yeah, can I just follow up on Liz's question?  Is there any end-use monitoring of U.S. weapons going on, if guided munitions, for example?  Do we know what those are being used to target?  Does the United States have that fidelity, or once a weapon is given to the Israelis, are they free to use it as they choose?

MS. SINGH:  Well, I mean, very similar to Ukraine.  Of course, we monitor and we keep track of the assistance that we're providing.  But once it is in the hands of, whether it's the Ukrainians on how they want to deploy on the battlefield, or whether it's in the hands of the Israelis on how they want to use, it's -- it's really their decision.  We don't keep track of how and when, like what -- when they use something at what time. 

Israel certainly has the right to defend itself.  This was the biggest attack on their people since -- I mean, is it -- it -- I mean, you -- you know this, that they've compared this to their 9/11.  So they certainly have the right to respond, but you know, the way we do end-use monitoring is we're not keeping track of how one thing is used in -- in a particular spot.  We keep track of the flow of assistance that goes in just like we do with Ukraine.  So how the Israelis choose to use the supplies capabilities that we give them is really not up to us.

Q:  Is -- but do -- do they tell you?  I mean, do you have -- does the United States know broadly if they're going to a specific Air Force unit, do you know that, and then that (inaudible) it?  Or is it just --

MS. SINGH:  I don't -- I'm not going to get into that.  I don't -- I don't have more specificity on that.

Yeah?

Q:  Just a follow-up.

MS. SINGH:  Sure.

Q:  There are allegations that the Israeli Army is using    white phosphorus bombs on Gaza district.  So you said, like, the U.S. is continuing to provide artillery shells and so on to the Israeli Army.  Have you ever provide white phosphorous bombs to Israel before and now?

MS. SINGH:  I've seen those reports.  I just don't have a comment on that.  And I think -- I think the spokesperson from the IDF said that they were not using that.  So I just -- I don't have any further comment on that.

Q:  There are pictures from the battlegrounds shows artillery shells with DOD coding saying (D-500-28 ?).  Is that -- does that mean that this is a U.S.-provided shell?

MS. SINGH:  I can't verify the authenticity of those photos or what you're referring to, so, yeah.

Anyone else?

Q:  It's actually our agency, so it's fresh, like, from --

MS. SINGH:  Yup.  Still can't verify anything like that.

Q:  Sabrina can -- can you give us a verification?  Does the Pentagon have any authority to get involved in the war against Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other party if U.S. forces were not attacked?

MS. SINGH:  I -- right now, we are, again, trying to maintain this conflict strictly to a very confined region.  We do not want to see this escalate into a broader – broader regional war - 

(CROSSTALK)

Q: My question is legal, not political.

MS. SINGH:  --I am -- I am answering your question.  So again, I will say that we're not -- we're not -- we are there in Israel, you're seeing our carrier moving to strengthen our deterrence in the region.  We are hoping and we are certainly encouraging any actor who seeks to take advantage of the situation to not do that.  And I'm just going to leave it at that.

Q:  Can you -- can you take the question from a legal perspective?  Does the Pentagon have authority to get involved in this war against Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other party if US forces are not attacked? 

(CROSSTALK)

MS. SINGH:  Again-- let me -- let me just -- again, this is -- the -- this -- this is absolutely a question that the President would also have to weigh in on to further -- to further engage in any -- in any war.  Right now, our goal is to -- is to strictly be in a -- a position to deter, and I'm just going to leave it at that.

Q:  Can you please take the question? --

MS. SINGH:  Okay -- no.  Okay, I'll take one more.

Q:  When the Eisenhower strike group gets there, is the Ford going to remain there on station or are they going to rotate back?  Do you know?

MS. SINGH:  I do not know.  A decision has not been made at this time.

Okay, I'm going to wrap it up with -- oh, sure, okay.

Q:  Sabrina. You mentioned that the -- you know, how the Israelis choose to use the supplies you're giving was really up to them.  The Secretary has said he expects the IDF to do the right thing, they're a professional military.  The administration has said they expect the -- the Israelis to abide by the law of war.

MS. SINGH:  Yeah.

Q:  Can you tell us -- I mean, there's no monitoring of whether or not the Israelis are actually doing that?

MS. SINGH:  Again, I will direct you to exactly what the Secretary said -- we expect Israel to uphold the laws of war.  We've -- they are a professional army -- or a -- a professional military, a democracy that we hold to a very high standard, and we accept -- expect them to do the same.

Q:  And if it's determined by, you know, the UN or rights groups where they say that the -- the Israelis are not doing that, is the department going to look into that?

MS. SINGH:  That's a hypothetical that I'm just not going to get into.  Thanks.

All right.  Thanks, all.