US amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (Photo: Getty).
The New York Times quoted a senior US military official as saying that the 26th Marine Corps Rapid Response Unit is currently in the Red Sea and will soon move to the Mediterranean.
The deployment will place the Marine Corps closer to Lebanon and Israel as Washington advises its citizens to leave Lebanon amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas.
One of the typical functions of this unit is to assist in the evacuation of citizens.
According to US officials, the 26th Marine Corps Rapid Response Unit has been aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and operating in the area around the Mediterranean Sea in recent weeks.
The US Department of Defense has not commented.
Last week, the White House said it would be “reckless and irresponsible” not to plan to evacuate US citizens from the Middle East, including Israel and Lebanon.
At the time, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington had not decided on an evacuation operation. However, Israel's expansion of its ground operation in Gaza prompted the US Embassy in Lebanon to once again urge its citizens to "leave immediately" before a crisis erupts.
The US State Department has raised its travel warning for Lebanon to level 4, meaning it advises citizens not to travel to the country.
The warnings come as the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues to escalate and threatens to spill over into a regional war. In addition to dealing with Hamas on its southern border, Israel also has to deal with shelling from the north by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The fighting, which has lasted for more than three weeks, has killed about 8,000 people in Gaza and more than 1,400 people in Israel.
Over the weekend, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced on October 28 that Israel had "moved into a new phase" in the fight against Hamas after Israeli infantry carried out raids in Gaza.
"We have entered a new phase of the war. Last night the ground in Gaza shook. We attacked above ground and underground," said Mr. Gallant.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said that Israel had "crossed a red line" with actions that could "force everyone to take measures".
President Raisi said Tehran would ignore US warnings not to intervene in the Hamas-Israel conflict. He also accused the US and some unnamed European countries of obstructing the ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the US that "new fronts will be opened" against Washington if it does not change its policy in the Middle East, including supporting Israel.
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