Head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Gen. Michael Kurilla met Thursday in Tel Aviv with Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi to coordinate preparations for a possible Iranian attack against Israel.
After meeting with Halevi, Kurilla was scheduled to visit the Israeli Air Force’s underground headquarters for a presentation on Israel’s multilayer defense and offense systems to tighten coordination on both those fronts. On Friday, the CENTCOM commander is expected to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant before continuing on a regional tour.
Kurilla has traveled to Israel several times since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, arriving for the first time after the Hamas incursion on Oct. 17, a day before President Joe Biden’s solidarity visit.
According to Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, Kurilla’s visit had originally been planned to focus on the US effort to build a floating harbor off Gaza to receive humanitarian aid shipped from Cyprus for distribution in the war-torn enclave. The floating harbor is expected to be operational in about three weeks and comes after the Biden administration placed mounting pressure on the Israeli government to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza by increasing aid access.
