Israel’s Minister of Defense cancels visit to Pentagon amid Middle East conflict escalation

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant canceled a sojourn with Pentagon officials scheduled for Wednesday, amid a accelerated escalation of the Israel-Hamas warfare successful the Middle East.

Deputy Pentagon press caput Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing Tuesday that the Pentagon was informed Gallant had postponed his travel to Washington, D.C.

"Minister Gallant was traveling to the U.S. and the caput welcomed him to the Pentagon to big him present for a bilateral meeting," Singh said. "

One newsman asked Singh astir reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Gallant not to spell to Washington, which Singh said she was alert of, but preferred to enactment retired of Israeli politics.

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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant checks unit readiness connected the bluish borderline with Lebanon amid warring with Hezbollah. (Ariel Hermoni Communications Office for the Israeli Minister of Defense)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, she noted, has a "great relationship" with Gallant, and the 2 person spoken successful the vicinity of 80 times.

"The stay successful changeless communication, whether it beryllium an in-person gathering here, or, you know, meetings, telephone calls that request to beryllium done remote," Singh explained. "That narration inactive maintains and tin beryllium done…at immoderate time, immoderate spot successful the world…"

When asked if determination were tensions betwixt Austin and Gallant, Singh pushed back.

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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, walks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin astatine the Pentagon successful June. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"I don’t deliberation there’s tension," she said. "You tin person nonstop conversations with your friends. You’re not ever going to hold connected everything, but that doesn’t mean that there’s tensions."

During an speech with Fox News main overseas analogous Trey Yingst connected Sunday, Gallant promised that Israeli forces are considering each options successful presumption of its effect to Iran's attacks against Israel — adjacent perchance striking Iranian atomic sites.

The interrogation came days aft Israel invaded Lebanon arsenic portion of a ngo to destruct Hezbollah, connected the heels of respective palmy strikes against the violent group. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had killed Hezbollah person Hassan Nasrallah past play — prompting Iran to motorboat 181 retaliatory missiles successful response.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES LIMITED GROUND OPERATIONS IN LEBANON AS WAR AGAINST HEZBOLLAH, TERRORIST GROUPS CONTINUE

Smoke and flames emergence successful Beirut's confederate suburbs, aft Israeli airstrikes connected Sunday. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

"At the moment, everything is connected the table," the Israeli authoritative said. "Israel volition respond to the unprecedented Iranian onslaught successful the mode of our choosing, and astatine the clip and spot of our choosing."

President Biden told reporters past week that helium would not enactment a onslaught against Iran's atomic facilities, but said Israel had the close to enactment "proportionately" to Iran. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to nonstop $157 cardinal of "additional assistance" to Lebanon, which, she claimed, is "facing an progressively dire humanitarian situation."

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Amid the White House's effect to the IDF's caller strikes, Gallant emphasized that helium hopes the United States continues to cooperate with the Israeli military.

"It is important for america to clasp discussions connected strategical practice betwixt our countries and defence practice successful airy of the threats posed by Iran and its proxies," Gallant said. "We are almighty erstwhile we are aligned, and I privation to marque definite of it."

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis, Trey Yingst, Greg Norman, Stephen Sorace and Michael Lee contributed to this report.