The US sent a three-star Marine general and other officers to Israel to help build the battle plans for Israel’s expected ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, The New York Times and Walla reported on Monday.
The three-star officer – the second highest rank in the Marines – was identified in both reports as Lt.-Gen. James Glynn, who has helped lead special operations forces against ISIS and served in Fallujah, Iraq. Glynn currently serves as the deputy commander for manpower and reserve affairs of the Marine Corps.
US officials cited in the reports stressed that the officers are not intended to dictate to Israel how to conduct the ground offensive, but instead to provide “military advice,” such as lessons learned in urban warfare in Mosul. The Times reported that Glynn would not be on the ground in Israel if a ground incursion into Gaza began.
Senior officials in the Biden administration told the NYT that the IDF is not ready yet to launch a ground invasion, and that the US is concerned that Israel lacks a clear military plan to eradicate Hamas in Gaza and does not have an achievable plan of action.
According to the Associated Press, Glynn will also be advising Israel on how to mitigate civilian casualties in urban warfare.
US stresses IDF will need to decide for themselves how to conduct invasion
During a press briefing on Monday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed that “the IDF needs to decide for themselves how they’re going to conduct operations. We’re not in the business of dictating terms to them, and we’re certainly not going to be in the business here from the White House of previewing any future operations one way or the other. That would be inappropriate.”
Kirby added during the briefing that the US has “maintained a level of communication with our Israeli counterparts to ascertain their intentions, their strategy, [and] their aims to see what their answers are to the kinds of tough questions that any military ought to be asking before you launch any kind of a major operation. Have you thought through the branches? Have you thought through the sequels? Have you thought through the unintended consequences?”
When asked about the reports that Glynn had been sent to Israel, Kirby did not confirm that claim. Instead he stated that “there are a few relevant military officers with experience — the kinds of experience that we believe is appropriate to the sorts of operations that Israel is conducting and may conduct in the future — to go over there to share some perspectives from their own experience and to ask the same hard questions that we’ve been asking of our Israeli counterparts since the beginning.”