DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: All right. Good morning, everyone. I do have quite a bit at the top, so bear with me and then happy to jump in and take questions. The Department continues to monitor the situation in the Middle East. Secretary Austin has been receiving updates from and providing guidance to his team on the latest developments in the region.
He and Department leaders remain focused on the protection of U.S. citizens and forces in the region, the defense of Israel and the de-escalation of the situation through deterrence and diplomacy. To that end, as we highlighted in our statement over the weekend, the DOD has taken steps to further enhance the defense posture of US forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war.
This includes Secretary Austin's direction for the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike Group to remain in the CENTCOM AOR, as well as the reinforcement of our defensive air support capabilities. This includes a certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region that will be extended, and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment the in-place forces already in the region.
Again, I won't talk specific timelines or numbers for OpSec reasons, but I can tell you these augmented forces include F-16, F-15e, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel. The Secretary also increased the readiness of additional US forces to deploy, elevating our preparedness to respond to various contingencies and DOD maintains robust and integrated air defense capabilities across the Middle East region, ensuring the protection of US forces operating in the region.
Shifting gears, the Department continues to support relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene. As of this morning, Florida has nearly 3,500 guardsmen, hundreds of tactical vehicles and boats and 11 rotary wing assets conducting emergency response missions in dozens of counties around the state. Georgia has around 800 guardsmen activated in support of state and local governments.
South Carolina has activated nearly 600 guardsmen and two helicopters in their recovery efforts. Tennessee has around 130 guardsmen and seven helicopters activated, and Virginia has activated nearly 50 guardsmen, along with one helicopter and numerous high-water vehicles. I'm sure you've all seen the reporting on the devastation Hurricane Helene and the aftermath wrought in North Carolina, especially in the western part of the state.
A multi-state, multi-agency effort is currently underway with guardsmen from Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio, New York, South Carolina and Florida, joining more than 700 North Carolina guardsmen in support to North Carolina communities. And across the region, national guardsmen are supporting state and local response efforts with warehousing support, high water vehicles, law enforcement support, search and rescue, route clearance, evacuation support, boat rescues and more.
On the active duty side, US Northern Command has deployed a joint enabling capability team to Nashville, Tennessee and has sent a liaison to the Federal Search and Rescue Coordination Group in Orlando. Additionally, a federal team staging facility has been established at Maxwell Air Force Base, with additional incident staging bases at Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, Georgia and Robins Air Force Base also in Georgia and at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
A mission assignment support team is integrated with the National Response Coordination Center here in Washington DC and the Civil Air Patrol has been activated for disaster operations support including damage assessment in North Carolina and South Carolina. The US Army Corps of Engineers is providing emergency power planning and response teams to Georgia Dam, levee and bridge inspection to Tennessee and Kentucky and temporary power to North Carolina.
Additionally, a team for command and control for high water vehicles and air operations support for rotary wing aircraft has been established at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. Four rotary wing search and rescue aircraft and pararescue teams have been deployed to McGhee Tyson, Tennessee. Eight helicopters and 10 Navy Helicopters will be at Fort Liberty as of today and 30 high water vehicles are staged at Fort Campbell.
For further questions about national guard missions, I direct you to contact specific states in question. They would have the most up to date information on their recovery efforts. For active duty support efforts to FEMA, please reach out to US Northern Command on specific evacuation efforts. And of course, our thoughts and prayers are with those that have been affected by this devastating storm.
And finally, Secretary Austin announced today the second iteration of the replicator initiative, replicator two, which will tackle the warfighter priority of countering the threat posed by small uncrewed aerial systems to our most critical installations and force concentrations. Throughout his tenure, the Secretary has made the development and rapid fielding of capabilities to counter uncrewed weapon systems as one of his top priorities.
That's why in March this year the Secretary launched a counter uncrewed system Senior Integration Group to focus Department-wide efforts to address this urgent operational challenge. Lessons from this CUXS Senior Integration Group's work regarding the ongoing threat posed by unmanned systems will help inform solutions for the replicator two effort.
From day one, the Secretary and the deputy Secretary have been relentlessly focused on delivering warfighter centric innovation and capability into the hands of our warfighters faster. This is an important step in that direction. A memo by Secretary Austin detailing the direction and execution of replicator two program is available on Defense.gov.
I've been talking for a while. So, with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Tara?
Q: First, on the retention of additional air power in the region, why the air power? Why instead of ships? What is it that, I guess, you all are concerned about that specifically aircraft can defend against?
MS. SINGH: It's a decision that was recommended in different channels up to the Secretary. The Secretary believes that that is the best way for our forces in the region to have the defense that they need and of course if needed, to come to the defense of Israel.
Q: What would they be doing specifically though?
MS. SINGH: I'm just not going to get into that in any more detail.
Q: OK. And then the Washington Post reported this morning that a US official has spoken to Israel and believes that a ground invasion is imminent. Have you been able to corroborate this?
MS. SINGH: So, what I would say is, I refer you to Israel to speak on any potential operations. I don't have anything on that specifically, so I just refer you to Israel.
Q: But you wouldn't wave us away from it?
MS. SINGH: I just, I don't have anything for you on that, especially on commenting on potential operations.
Q: Can I ?
MS. SINGH: Yeah.
Q: I'm sorry to put you on the spot because I know you were probably standing here starting the gaggle, but President Biden just was asked about it and just said that he's very well aware of the plans and that he's confident that they're not going to happen or they're going to stop and there's going to work towards a ceasefire.
Do you have any idea what he's talking about there?
MS. SINGH: I'd refer you to the White House. I don't have--
Q: I think our White House colleagues are asking the same question.
Q: Another follow up--
MS. SINGH: We're just going to go around in an orderly way. So yes, right here.
Q: Sabrina, I mean, last week you said it didn't look imminent. Has that assessment changed?
MS. SINGH: So, I'd refer you to the Israelis to really speak to their operations or any potential operations. I just don't have more to share right now.
Q: But you can say that it's--I mean, last week you said it wasn't imminent. Can you say the same this time? Or if you can't say the same, then things have changed, right?
MS. SINGH: I can tell you that we're working with the Israelis and trying to learn more about what they intend to do. Right now, I just don't have more to offer. Phil?
Q: Can you bring us up to date about planning for a potential evacuation of Americans from Lebanon? Do you have any sense of how many Americans are in Lebanon that the US military might have to evacuate?
MS. SINGH: In terms of how many citizens are in Lebanon, I frankly do not have that number off the top of my head. So that would be--I'd refer you to the State Department for more. In terms of any planning for a potential, whether it be any type of evacuation, look, as we've said before, we're a planning organization.
We have a whole wide range of plans on the shelves that can be implemented at any time. But of course, any decision to evacuate American citizens right now would be determined by the State Department. I think you saw over the weekend State encouraged American citizens that are at the US embassy that are not needed, to be in person to seek passage out of the country. Of course, we're standing by to support State and whatever needs that they require, but right now we're still standing by.
Q: Does the Pentagon have any concerns the State Department is waiting too long to issue more urgent orders for Americans to evacuate?
MS. SINGH: No. What I would say is, and again, I'd refer you to State to speak to this, but my understanding is that the State Department has urged Americans not to travel to Lebanon, but we're not evacuating our American citizens and our Embassy is open and still operating under normal business hours.
Of course, ensuring the safety of our American citizens and personnel is a top priority for State and DOD. But we're continuing to monitor what's happening in the region and if anything changes, we'll certainly let you know. Yes, do you have a question?
Q: Yes. You already said that you didn't want to mention or to comment on whether a ground operation is imminent or not, but there were reports, I think by CNN, that they already conducted limited operation this morning inside Lebanon. Can you confirm? Were you notified?
MS. SINGH: I can't confirm anything or speak to any operations. I would refer you to the Israelis to speak to their own operations. I don't have anything on that.
Q: But you shouldn't be notified?
MS. SINGH: Again, we're in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts. The Secretary had a call just this weekend with Minister Gallant. I'm sure he'll engage him later on this week, but I just don't have more for you on this specifically. Fadi?
Q: Thank you, Sabrina. So, in terms of Israel's operations, I know you don't want to talk about that, but is the Secretary communicating any advice in terms of the administration policy or stance toward what Israel might do next in Lebanon in terms of maybe land incursion? Is it part of the discussion? And is he giving any advice to his counterparts?
MS. SINGH: Yeah. I'm just not going to be able to go beyond the readout, Fadi, as you can appreciate.
Q: I mean, I appreciate the last week when we asked you the question and you said it's not imminent and now it seems like, do you still hold the same stance as last week?
MS. SINGH: Yeah, I was just asked this earlier. Again, it's something that we are in communications with the Israelis on. They have a right to defend themselves. We're continuing to engage with them, trying to learn more and continue discussions on the best way forward, but I just don't have anything more to provide right now.
Q: OK. Let me put it in a different way. Does the Secretary think that a land incursion into Lebanon, even within a limited scope would help Israel defend itself?
MS. SINGH: Well, we support Israel's right to defend itself. Again, that is a hypothetical; that has not occurred. So, we're going to continue to engage with the Israelis on the best path forward. I'm just not going to go beyond that.
Q: The thing that hasn't occurred is the incursion.
MS. SINGH: That's what you were referring to in your question.
Q: Yeah. So, what you're saying, it hasn't occurred yet?
MS. SINGH: That was the question, so I'm just repeating back your words.
Q: Can I just ask one thing away from this, on Iran? Obviously, you just said that the additional force is to deter any aggression and widening the scope of the--
MS. SINGH: The additional forces is actually also there for the protection of US forces in the region.
Q: Yeah, yeah, obviously. I'm talking about the other part. Are you seeing any indication that Iran might be getting ready to support Hezbollah or attack Israel?
MS. SINGH: So, we've seen the rhetoric coming out of Iran. I think we have to take that seriously. It's something that we're watching incredibly closely, whether it be a response from Iran, from Hezbollah, from the IMG groups, the proxy groups in Iraq and Syria. I think we have to take that rhetoric seriously.
And that's why you're seeing the decision to bolster our force posture in the region by the president and by the Secretary, because we do take that rhetoric very seriously. And we believe that we have the capability in the region to defend our forces. And of course, if needed, to come to the defense of Israel.
Q: Thank you.
MS. SINGH: Dan.
Q: A couple of follow ups, please.
MS. SINGH: Sure.
Q: One, there were Israeli strikes in Yemen and Syria over the weekend. The one in Yemen in particular, the Israeli officials said that they had coordinated with the United States on that. Does that sound accurate?
MS. SINGH: No, I would say that the characterization of coordinated infers that you know we were involved in this operation. I can tell you that the Department did receive a heads up or a notification that they were going to conduct an operation, but we were not involved in that. So, I think I would dispute the word coordinated.
Q: OK. We haven't seen, at least to my knowledge, any attacks on US forces in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, over the last several days, despite this rhetoric. Does the Pentagon have any assessment for what's going on there?
MS. SINGH: I mean, we certainly welcome when there are no attacks on US forces in the region. And I think it's important to remember why they are in the region, which is of course to continue their mission and when it comes to the fight against ISIS, but I don't have an assessment other than, we have to take what the rhetoric coming out of Iran very seriously.
And that's why you're seeing the Secretary make the force posture changes that he is, because we do take those threats seriously. Carla?
Q: Thanks. Was the US-provided bomb used to kill the Hezbollah leader, Nasrallah?
MS. SINGH: I'm sorry?
Q: Was the US-provided--US-made--US-provided a bomb used to kill Nasrallah?
MS. SINGH: I don't know. I'd refer you to the Israelis to speak more to that. Great. Tom, and then I'll go to you.
Q: Yeah. Thanks, Sabrina. Just actually to follow up on Phil's question about the potential evacuations, you said that obviously the Pentagon is a planning organization. Can you give us anything beyond that in terms of could this be by ship, evacuation by air? Would you characterize the troops that would assist with that as being on standby?
MS. SINGH: Yeah. Appreciate the question, but that's just not something we would broadcast on how--if we were needed for a potential evacuation, how that would occur. Right now, there are still--my understanding is that there are still flights going in and out of Lebanon. And the State Department has encouraged American citizens to take those options.
But yeah, I'm just not going to get into specifics. To expand more on being a planning organization, we're the best planning organization. We have a wide range of contingencies for different scenarios, but to forecast that in an on the record way would not make any sense.
Q: I mean, can we go--you still have Britain has sent an extra 60 troops to Cyprus. Can you say of the beefed-up presence now in the region that X number of some of that contingent on--are there to assist with a potential evacuation?
MS. SINGH: They'll be an additional few thousand that are in the region with--
Q: Iâm sorry--
MS. SINGH: --an additional few thousand that are in the region, that I just read out, that are part of this augmented force.
Q: And they're there to assist with the potential evacuation?
MS. SINGH: They are there for the protection of US forces, and they are there, should they be needed, for the defense of Israel. But we're talking about air defense capabilities, so no, these would not be used for--if there needed to be an evacuation, these would not be the type of capabilities that would be used as these are air defense capabilities. Jared?
Q: You mentioned the additional combat aircraft that are going to the region or prescheduled they are going to now augment. Does DOD have indications that the US forces facilities could be targeted as a response to Israel's campaign in Lebanon? Beyond the rhetoric that you're saying, are there any indications yet?
MS. SINGH: I think just beyond the rhetoric, I wouldn't get into an Intel assessment.
Q: OK. And then you mentioned a few thousand including air defense capabilities, is that just the fighter aircraft that you mentioned or are there additional assets going?
MS. SINGH: Just the fighter aircraft that would be augmenting the already there, in-region capabilities.
Q: OK. With no additional ground-based air defenses system?
MS. SINGH: No. Chris?
Q: The Israelis talked publicly about some of the smaller raids they've done in Lebanon in the past 24 hours. Is that something you support, given that it's taken place already?
MS. SINGH: So, what I can say, again, and I know this is not satisfying, but I'm not going to just get into more specifics on their operations. We support Israel's right to self-defense. We're continuing to engage with them in discussions on the best path forward, but I just can't get into more details than that right now.
Q: And then does the Secretary trust Minister Gallant to be honest with him and notify him of operations, including a ground incursion given that he didn't with the ?
MS. SINGH: Look, I think what I said on Friday still stands. I think I was asked a similar question on this. The type of trust that we have with Israel, I think it is exemplified by the fact that the Secretary has engaged, and Minister Gallant has engaged with the Secretary so many times over the last two weeks.
You're seeing calls--there's a time that's happening every day, sometimes twice a day. Regardless of the cadence of the calls, they're in touch regularly and I don't think you're in touch regularly with someone if you don't have some type of trust there. So, I do think that we have communication with them.
We're going to continue to engage and it's not just here in this building. As you know, there are other agencies and the White House that engage with their Israeli counterparts, and that is a good thing and we're going to continue to do that.
Q: You don't believe that trust has been hurt in any way because of the lack of notification about Israel?
MS. SINGH: I think they're continuing to engage. The good thing is, is that they both know that they can pick up the phone at any time and have a frank and honest conversation with each other, and that's exactly what you've seen happen over the last two weeks. And even just to take a step back, not just within the last two weeks, since October 7th, the Secretary was regularly engaging with Minister Gallant.
And so that conversation, that dialog has continued and that is a good thing. .
Q: I have a follow up actually.
MS. SINGH: OK. I'm just going to go to Haley and then I'm happy to come to you, Brandi.
Q: Thanks. Have any additional forces in the US been put on prepare to deploy orders?
MS. SINGH: Sorry. So short answer is yes. Secretary Austin increased the readiness of additional US forces to deploy, elevating our preparedness to respond to various contingencies. I'm just not going to get into specifics for OpSec reasons, but these forces cover a wide range of capabilities and missions.
Q: OK. So just want to clarify because I think yesterday was kind of confusing in the statement that came out. It seemed to be talking about forces who were already in the region who were put on heightened status, but there's also troops in the US still that are now on.
MS. SINGH: That's my understanding. Yeah. Brandi?
Q: Thanks, Sabrina. Just a quick follow up on your discussion with Idrees, because I couldn't get an answer to this on the plane with Secretary Austin. What was his initial reaction to finding out about those strikes on Friday? And also, in all of these conversations that he's having with gallant and his counterparts in Israel, how much is mitigating civilian harm coming up, particularly in recent accounts?
MS. SINGH: Sure. You didn't watch my briefing on Friday? I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Q: You wouldn't say escalatory, which I thought was interesting.
MS. SINGH: I'm just kidding. Look, the Secretary was caught off guard. We made that pretty clear on Friday. We were not involved in that operation. We were notified as the operation was underway.
Q: Yeah. What is your reaction?
MS. SINGH: So, let me just finish. So again, his reaction was that he was caught off guard. How you interpret that, I'll leave that to you, but that was his reaction. And it was a frank and very firm conversation on both sides. So, I'll leave it at that. In terms of--I'm sorry. Your second question was on--
Q: Mitigating civilian harm.
MS. SINGH: Yes, thank you. That is something that continues to come up with the Secretary's calls, and not just in recent days and not just in recent months, from the very beginning. So, the Secretary, that's something that he raises in his calls with Minister Gallant, to take into account innocent civilians.
You are seeing Israel conduct operations and telling civilians in congested or highly concentrated, populated areas to evacuate. But of course, it is something that he raises. Yeah, of course. Ryo?
Q: Thank you. Different topic. Last week, Japan's incoming Prime Minister Ishiba wrote to the Hudson Institute and proposed ideas such as revision of US-Japan Security Treaty and stationing Japan Self-Defense Force in Guam. What would be your reaction to such proposal? And is the US open to these discussions with Japan?
MS. SINGH: I'm so sorry, Ria, I have not seen the proposal, so I don't have a lot to offer on this at the moment. What I can tell you is our relationship, our military cooperation with Japan is something that the Secretary, this administration values very deeply. That's why you've seen us--I'm trying to find the right word because now I've just blanked on it. But you were on the trip with us over summer in the Indo-Pacific where we actually upgraded our forces in Japan to match the needs of the Indo-Pacific.
So, while I'm sorry, I just don't have more on this specific proposal, I can tell you that we certainly value and will continue to communicate with the Japanese on what more is needed with our mil-to-mil cooperation. Fadi?
Q: Sabrina, I have two separate questions. On the issue of civilians, you said that the Israelis are giving a heads up to population to leave condensed area--
MS. SINGH: That's my understanding.
Q: Yeah, my understanding is different than yours. Just yesterday, 45 people lost their lives when the Israelis flatten the building and in my grandmother's village. To get one target, that building was populated by many displaced people among the people who were killed, people who were trying to get aid to those. In that instance, there was no notification.
Hundreds of other people were killed in their houses, in addition to paramedics who were being targeted. We saw in Gaza, you expressed concern and calling on the Israelis to take civilian population into consideration. However, I don't think that was successful. More than 41,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza.
Are you going to approach this issue in Lebanon in a different way?
MS. SINGH: I think, Fadi, what I can tell you is that in almost every conversation with Minister Gallant, this is an issue that comes up. Ensuring the safety of innocent civilians in the battle space is something that the Secretary himself reiterates on every call. I think you have to also remember that the US is not involved in these operations.
So, we can continue to reiterate our concerns and we do, and we're very frank and honest about it and it's not just from this Department, it's from other departments and certainly the White House. So, it's something that we are concerned about. We, of course, in the conversations, since basically starting very early on in October, it's something that the Secretary has expressed concern about.
And that's not changing. That's going to be something that we continue to bring up in our conversations and in our calls. So, I'll just leave it at that.
Q: OK. With the Nasrallah call, you said the Secretary was caught off guard, and you described that conversation as being frank and very firm. Was the issue at hand there, the principle of killing Nasrallah or not telling the Secretary ahead of time of the operation? To say, is the Secretary--does he object to the killing of Nasrallah?
MS. SINGH: Well, Fadi, I certainly point you to President Biden and Vice President Harris's statements over the weekend. But I think it's important to remember that Nasrallah and the terrorist organization that he led has the blood of Americans and innocent people on his hands. So, certainly taking someone like that, eliminating a threat like that, someone that has caused the death of innocent Americans, I'd point you to what the president and the vice president said.
And we support Israel's right to self-defense and that is a leader that was on October 8th started or gave the okay to start launching rocket attacks into Israel just after Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7th. So, the Secretary was caught off guard.
Of course, any operations within the Middle East always have implications for US forces and ultimately, that's always the Secretary's priority, protecting US forces, taking care of our people. That's something that the Secretary is going to be focused on, and any impact that could affect our forces our troops in the region, he's going to want to know about any operations that could do that. Ellie?
Q: Just a quick one. The 2,000-pound bomb shipment back in April, has that gone through And have there been any other pauses on any other shipments of weapons?
MS. SINGH: Not tracking any other pauses, and I'm still tracking that one shipment from earlier this year is still possible.
Q: And then on Carla's question about if a US-made bomb killed Nasrallah, is the US going to look into that, or is the Pentagon going to commit to looking into whether US bombs leveled those high-rise buildings?
MS. SINGH: We don't conduct investigations every time there's an operation done. For more information on that specific operation, I'd have to refer you to the Israelis. We're just not, you have to understand, we're not sitting next to them as they are conducting an operation. We're not plugged in in that way.
So again, I would refer you to them to speak to their own operations. OK? All right. Oh, Charlie?
Q: Yeah, I had a couple. First, I just want to follow up on what Ellie just said.
MS. SINGH: Sure.
Q: I know we're not conducting investigations, but surely the Israelis are saying when they're using US weapons on something this important, are those conversations not taking place?
MS. SINGH: Charlie, I don't think every single operation, you know we get a phone call that says and we're going to use X, Y and Z in our inventory. That's just not how operations work.
Q: This isn't any operation.
MS. SINGH: Yeah. And again, this isn't any operation, and that's why we were very caught off guard when we were, in fact, when the Secretary got the notification that this operation was happening.
Q: OK. But just to follow up.
MS. SINGH: Sure.
Q: For all the talk of de-escalation coming out of the White House and the Defense Secretary, the pager attack happened without notice. For all the talk about escalation, they take out Nasrallah. Some might suggest that the Israelis might have Iran on their to-do list. Is the Defense Secretary trying to de-escalate that move? Are they having those conversations?
MS. SINGH: We're having conversations at all levels of government, whether it be from the Secretary's level down or at the White House-level. I think, last week during UNGA, there was a proposal for a 21-day ceasefire. That's something that the administration is still pursuing. We want to see a diplomatic end.
And we ultimately--the way this is going to be resolved is through diplomatic channels. So, appreciate the skepticism and appreciate the concern here, but we're not giving up. We're going to keep engaging. That's what we're there to do. That's why you have so many people continuing to travel to the region to engage, because ultimately, we believe that a diplomatic resolution is the best way forward.
Q: And the reason I ask is because this will have consequences for the United States if Iran gets drawn in, in any meaningful way.
MS. SINGH: Well, absolutely, and that's why you've seen the Secretary make the decisions that he did over the weekend to bolster our force posture, because we do take seriously what the rhetoric coming out of Iran. We saw their attack on April 13th, and you saw our response to that. We can't rule out that they won't respond.
We can't rule out that Hezbollah or Iran's proxy groups in Iraq and Syria won't respond. So, that's why we are taking the measures that we are doing to ensure the protection of US forces. That is the top priority and come to the defense of Israel should we need to. One last question. Yes?
Q: OK. So, I see what you're meaning when you say like it's not our operations, it's Israel's operations and we don't have that much to do about it, but with--
MS. SINGH: No, like, we're not involved in their planning and their operations.
Q: Right. But the weapons that you are providing to Israel that they use in these operations is a big question. By the US law, you actually have to follow if your allies are using these weapons, according to the international law and the war law. So, in that sense, I think my colleagues are asking the same thing. We are really curious how you guys are following this.
It's been one year, and we've seen a lot of things, but we didn't see a pause or any measure against this kind of usage of the weapons in the region. And just today, I think the Israeli Prime Minister shared something on his social media saying that we will bring democracy to Iran. So, in terms of the escalation in the region, it doesn't sound good, and we're just trying to understand how serious you are following how your weapons are being used around the world?
MS. SINGH: Well, as you probably know, it was this earlier this summer. There is a report that State Department compiles, and it's submitted to Congress. And I can't remember how often it is. But it goes through sort of to your question on how US weapons are used and analyzes how they're used when they're sold through either FMS cases or other cases.
And that's a report that's submitted to Congress. Look, there'll be another one that's submitted at some point. I would refer you to State more to speak to that because I don't remember how often they get transmitted. But we still, and this administration still supports Israel's right to self-defense.
And right now, we have to remember how we got here and that was from October 7th. And I think it's really important to remember that as we talk about all the other factors that are happening on the northern border, you still have to remember that October 7th happened. Israel was brutally attacked.
And on October 8th, Hezbollah started launching rockets into Israel. So, Israel has a right to defend itself, and we are going to keep having very honest and very frank conversations on how they do that. And one of the things that we do and one of the things that the Secretary continues to emphasize is the importance of getting civilians out of the battle space.
And look, we have seen them listen to us, but there are times where things could be done better and that's something that the Secretary urges in his phone calls. OK. All right. Thanks, everyone.
Q: Thank you.
