US-Israel Joint Military Operations Continue Despite Trump's 'Ceasefire' Claims
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine are scheduled to brief the press at the Pentagon on Wednesday morning. This briefing comes after President Trump’s announcement of a purported two-week pause in US strikes against Iran, a claim that surfaced even as US military assets remain actively engaged in the region alongside Israel. Mainstream
outlets, like The Hill , frame this as a 'briefing after Trump touts Iran ceasefire,' implying a genuine de-escalation initiated by the US. This narrative omits the crucial context that military actions, particularly intelligence gathering, drone surveillance, and joint exercises often preceding kinetic strikes, have been continuous. The US has been a direct participant in intelligence operations
and air defense coordination with Israel targeting Iranian interests and those of its allied movements for months, a collaboration that did not spontaneously pause with an executive announcement. For instance, the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf in late 2019 was presented as a defensive measure, yet it significantly enhanced offensive capabilities for
a potential joint US-Israel operation. This consistent posture belies any sudden 'ceasefire' as a unilateral US act of de-escalation. The US government’s history of portraying direct military involvement as defensive or isolated 'strikes' is long-standing. In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 civilians, later claiming it mistook the civilian airliner for a fighter