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00:00 And US naval ships and fighter planes
00:02 are in the process of moving closer to Israel,
00:05 this after US President Joe Biden
00:07 vowed to ramp up military support to his historic ally.
00:11 Washington also pledging to send weapons and ammunition.
00:15 A Muslim response accusing the US
00:17 in the participation of the aggression
00:20 against Palestinian people.
00:22 Let's take a listen now to US President Joe Biden.
00:26 In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them
00:28 and to the world and to terrorists everywhere
00:31 that the United States stands with Israel.
00:34 We will not ever fail to have their back.
00:38 We'll make sure that they have the help their citizens need
00:41 and they can continue to defend themselves.
00:44 Joining me in the studio is Katavan Gorjastani,
00:47 International Affairs Editor.
00:48 Katavan, Washington sending a very clear message there
00:53 by sending those ships to the region,
00:56 not to mention fighter jets and offering ammunition
00:58 and support to the Israelis.
01:00 Yes, the first message is to show support for Israel.
01:05 And so we've seen this announcement confirmed
01:08 by the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin,
01:10 saying that additional military assistance
01:13 is already underway and should be arriving in Israel
01:16 in the coming days.
01:17 We don't really have any details
01:18 on what that military assistance is exactly,
01:21 but it is expected to be arms and ammunition.
01:25 This comes on top, of course,
01:27 of the already huge amount of military assistance
01:29 that the US sends to Israel every year,
01:32 about $3.8 billion worth of military assistance.
01:36 There's also, as you said, this change in force posture,
01:39 as they call it, by the US Navy and the US Air Force
01:44 in the Eastern Mediterranean.
01:46 All those ships, aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers,
01:51 moving towards the Eastern Mediterranean
01:53 to be closer to Israel,
01:55 as well as fighter jet squadrons
01:57 also moving closer in the region.
02:00 This is also a show of force by the Americans.
02:04 Yes, it is to tell Israel,
02:06 "We're standing geographically by your side,"
02:09 but they're also sending a message to other countries.
02:12 The Secretary of Defense called it
02:15 a bolstering of regional deterrence.
02:17 And there was also a warning by President Joe Biden,
02:21 saying, "This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel
02:25 to exploit these attacks."
02:27 He didn't name names,
02:28 but we know who this was directed to, of course.
02:31 This was directed to Iran,
02:33 the longtime supporter of Hamas, but not just Iran.
02:37 Also a message to Hezbollah in Lebanon
02:40 and other groups in the region.
02:42 The goal is to avoid escalation,
02:45 but also to tell those groups,
02:47 "Don't try to take advantage of the situation.
02:50 We will be there."
02:51 And, Katavan, a lot of media speculation this Monday
02:54 about the extent of Iran's involvements
02:57 in Saturday's attacks.
02:59 Yes, we heard actually from one Hamas spokesperson
03:03 speaking to the BBC, Ghazi Hamad,
03:06 who said that Iran did give support.
03:09 He didn't go into the details of what that support was,
03:12 but there was also reporting from the Wall Street Journal
03:16 talking about senior Hamas officials
03:20 saying that Iran did indeed not only help plan the attack,
03:25 but also might have given the actual official green light
03:29 to launch this attack at a meeting in Lebanon
03:33 just last week.
03:35 The Iran Revolutionary Guard,
03:37 also according to that same report,
03:40 really working closely with Hamas
03:42 at least since the month of August
03:44 to really plan all the steps of that attack.
03:48 There was also a tweet by Iran's supreme leader,
03:51 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
03:53 just a few days before the attack saying,
03:55 "The usurper regime,"
03:57 which is often a way to refer to Israel in Iran,
04:00 "is coming to an end."
04:02 Now, so far, Iran has denied any direct involvement,
04:07 but reiterated its support for Hamas,
04:09 its congratulations for this attack to Hamas.
04:14 The Americans also not wanting to confirm
04:17 any direct involvement by the Iranians.
04:19 So far, they're saying no evidence of direct involvement,
04:22 but of course, there is a history of Iran supporting Hamas,
04:26 so we are looking at it very closely.
04:29 The other thing the Americans are pointing at
04:31 is the political situation.
04:35 Israel and Saudi Arabia in talks to normalize relations,
04:39 the Americans are saying,
04:40 "Who benefits from the crime?
04:42 "It is Iran.
04:42 Iran doesn't want to see that rapprochement.