{"id":302544,"date":"2026-02-21T08:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/302544\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:36:08","slug":"ten-killed-in-israeli-strikes-on-bekaa-valley-lebanese-health-ministry-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/302544\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Killed in Israeli Strikes on Bekaa Valley, Lebanese Health Ministry Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">Hundreds of U.S. troops have been evacuated from military bases in Qatar and Bahrain, Pentagon officials were reported to have said in the <a class=\"x1bvjpef x41m6fz xly1mqq x1k57tk5 x1i43xu1 xx6stda x15spe28 x1wntsoc xj69yco xfw692k xg830sg x13dflua xfagghw xz4gly6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/us\/politics\/trump-iran-risks.html\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">The Times added that the deployment of U.S. warships, fighter jets, bombers, drones, surveillance planes and air defense systems to the Middle East underscores that the Pentagon is preparing for the possibility of a war \u2013 and one that could stretch past 12 days.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">&#8220;This looks like positioning for a much longer conflict,&#8221; said former senior Defense Department policy official Katherine Thompson of the Cato Institute. She said the Pentagon is seemingly &#8220;anticipating an Iranian response that could be a significant risk to American bases in the region,&#8221; adding, &#8220;The ability of the United States to sustain a prolonged defense of its forces and basing in the region, while also supporting Israel&#8217;s defense, is a major concern.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">During the 12-day war with Iran in 2025, Iran privately warned U.S. and Qatari officials before it launched a barrage of missiles at U.S. forces stationed at Qatar&#8217;s Al Udeid Air Base.<\/p>\n<p><img data-chromatic=\"ignore\" title=\"President Donald Trump smiles on stage at the Al Udeid Air Base, during his visit to Qatar, 2025. Credit: Alex Brandon\/AP\" alt=\"President Donald Trump smiles on stage at the Al Udeid Air Base, during his visit to Qatar, 2025.\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1601\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/693127.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"x1mraiob xxymvpz xt7dq6l x193iq5w xh8yej3 x1huxd7x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><img data-chromatic=\"ignore\" title=\"President Donald Trump smiles on stage at the Al Udeid Air Base, during his visit to Qatar, 2025. Credit: Alex Brandon\/AP\" alt=\"President Donald Trump smiles on stage at the Al Udeid Air Base, during his visit to Qatar, 2025.\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1601\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/693127.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"x1mraiob xxymvpz xt7dq6l x193iq5w xh8yej3\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Close<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump smiles on stage at the Al Udeid Air Base, during his visit to Qatar, 2025. Credit: Alex Brandon\/AP <\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump smiles on stage at the Al Udeid Air Base, during his visit to Qatar, 2025. Credit: Alex Brandon\/AP <\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\"><a class=\"x1bvjpef x41m6fz xly1mqq x1k57tk5 x1i43xu1 xx6stda x15spe28 x1wntsoc xj69yco xfw692k xg830sg x13dflua xfagghw xz4gly6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/middle-east-news\/2026-01-14\/ty-article\/.premium\/u-s-withdrawing-troops-from-key-middle-east-bases-as-precaution-american-official-says\/0000019b-bd39-d641-a9bf-bfb96eb60000\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">In January, Qatari officials confirmed<\/a> that &#8220;certain personnel&#8221; from its U.S. military base had evacuated, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of U.S. troops have been evacuated from military bases in Qatar and Bahrain, Pentagon officials were reported&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[50,42,87,954,43,40,38,41,39,77],"class_list":{"0":"post-302544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-gaza","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-israeli-politics","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories","17":"tag-west-bank"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}