The United States is sending more troops to the Middle East, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to the Lebanese people regarding the heightening conflict with Hezbollah. 

“In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region. But for operational security reasons, I’m not going to comment on or provide specifics,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters during an off-camera gaggle Monday. 

The U.S. already has 40,000 troops in the region. The new deployments come after significant strikes by Israeli forces against targets inside Lebanon that have killed hundreds and as Israel is preparing to conduct further operations. Netanyahu released a video statement Monday addressed to “the people of Lebanon.” 

“Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. It placed rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garages,” Netanyahu said. “Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities, directly at our citizens. To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out those weapons.”

KIRBY SLAMS HAMAS CHIEF SINWAR AS ‘THE MAJOR OBSTACLE’ TO CEASE-FIRE, HOSTAGE RELEASE DEAL WITH ISRAEL 

“Now starting this morning, the IDF has warned you to get out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu added. “I urge you – take this warning seriously. Don’t let Hezbollah endanger your lives and the lives of your loved ones. Don’t let Hezbollah endanger Lebanon. Please, get out of harm’s way now. Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.” 

He spoke as Israeli warplanes continued to strike Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Fox News confirmed that Netanyahu’s cabinet approved a “special situation” – similar to a state of emergency – on Israel’s home front on Monday. According to the Israeli government, the declaration significantly expands Israel Defense Forces (IDF) powers to give public directives, permitting the military to ban gatherings, limit studies and issue “additional instructions required to save lives.”

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, speaks during a press briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

ISRAEL SAYS IT CONDUCTED RETALIATORY STRIKES AGAINST HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON, STRUCK HAMAS IN GAZA

The U.S. State Department is warning Americans to leave Lebanon as the risk of a regional war increases.

“Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the State Department cautioned Saturday. Ryder would not say if the additional forces might support the evacuation of those citizens if needed.

Additionally on Monday, the aircraft carrier USS Truman, two destroyers and a cruiser set sail from Norfolk, Virginia, headed to the Mediterranean on a regularly scheduled deployment, opening the possibility that the U.S. could keep both the Truman and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is in the Gulf of Oman, nearby in case further violence breaks out, according to The Associated Press. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem on Sept. 2, 2024. (Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held back-to-back calls with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the weekend as he pressed for a cease-fire and a reduction of tensions in the region, Ryder said.

“Given the tensions, given the escalation, as I highlighted, there is the potential for a wider regional conflict. I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s a dangerous situation,” Ryder said.

The U.S. presence in the Middle East is designed both to help defend Israel and protect U.S. and allied personnel and assets. Navy warships are scattered across the region, from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Oman, and both Air Force and Navy fighter jets are strategically based at several locations to be better prepared to respond to any attacks.

Fox News’ Yonat Friling and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Access to the EU budget should be tied to countries respecting the rule of law and fundamental rights without exception, ministers from Sweden and Finland have said.

The call comes after Brussels blocked billions in funds to Poland and Hungary due to concerns over judicial reforms and democratic backsliding.

“All member states must adhere to our common values, notably rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights,” Sweden’s Jessica Rosencrantz and Finland’s Joakim Strand, both ministers for European affairs, wrote in a joint letter to the European Commission ahead of a ministerial meeting due Tuesday (24 September).

“All member states have of their own free will signed up to these values. However, unfortunately, reality has shown the need for an active rule of law policy,” they added.

Contentiously, they say the overhaul should also cover billions in subsidies given out each year under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which are jealously protected by farmers, especially in big producers like France, Italy and Spain.

The CAP allocates €264 billion for the 2023-2027 period, including €189bn in direct income support and €66bn for development of impoverished rural areas, but without the oversight afforded to other EU spending.

Access to other EU funding programmes such as cohesion funding is subject to meeting common “enabling conditions”, such as a member state respecting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, without which funds can be frozen or suspended.

After a controversial judicial reform in Poland, those provisions were previously used to paralyse €76.5 billion in EU funds, an impasse which was solved earlier this year. In Hungary, a series of legal breaches immobilised almost €22 billion under the same Common Provisions Regulation, half of which still remains frozen.

Now Rosencrantz and Strand argue this system should be further expanded as a “general feature in all areas of the EU budget.”

Their letter also calls on the Commission to make “full use” of a conditionality mechanism which can freeze cash in cases where the bloc’s financial integrity is at risk, and which has so far been used just once, to deal with concerns over corruption in Hungary.

“Instead of listening to calls to weaken conditionality for administrative reasons, rule of law conditionality should be made stronger. Our taxpayers need to trust that the EU’s common funds are used appropriately and responsibly,” the ministers wrote.

Their call comes as the Commission is reportedly preparing to take action against Slovakia in reaction to legislative changes brought in by Prime Minister Robert Fico, including the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office that deals with corruption-related crimes.

In political guidelines for her second term published in July, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to build a “closer link” between EU funds and respect for the rule of law.

The latest edition of the EU’s report on the rule of law, published later in July, showed that Hungary and Slovakia had made little to no progress on the previous year’s recommendations.

Von der Leyen also pledged radical overhaul of the EU budget, with programmes adapted to country circumstances and dependent on reforms.