(CNN) — Dozens of US troops have been deployed to Cyprus amid sharply escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and they are preparing for a range of contingencies including a possible evacuation operation from Lebanon for US citizens should a full-blown war erupt, two US officials told CNN. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said earlier this week that the US military would be deploying “a small number of US military personnel forward” to the region “out of an abundance of caution.” But he declined to say how many troops were deployed, where they were sent, and what branch they belonged to. Cyprus played a key role in helping to evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon during Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, facilitating the departure and accommodation of tens of thousands of people at the time as they fled the conflict. Cyprus’s deputy government spokesperson, Yiannis Antoniou, told Reuters last month that the island nation is again on standby to help if needed. The UK announced on Tuesday that it was sending 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation of British citizens from Lebanon if one becomes necessary. “The most important message from me this evening is to British nationals in Lebanon, to leave immediately and I just want to reinforce that,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The US State Department has also repeatedly warned US citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial travel options are still available. Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have reached new highs over the last week, beginning when Israel carried out covert attacks that detonated Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies. Israel followed up by pounding Beirut and southern Lebanon with airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians and Hezbollah fighters in recent days. The militant group has responded with rocket attacks targeting Israeli sites including Ramat David air base east of Haifa, and on Wednesday launched a missile directly at Tel Aviv which was intercepted by Israeli air defences. Later on Wednesday, the Israel Defence Forces announced it would be calling up two reserve brigades for a mission in northern Israel. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the US is “working tirelessly” on diplomatic efforts to prevent a “full-blown war” between Israel and Lebanon. “Risk of escalation in the region is acute, and I know that we are all very much focused on that,” Blinken told his counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. A US official told CNN on Monday that “we are the closest we’ve been to spiraling to a regional war” since Hamas’ October 7 attack. One of the biggest concerns for the US right now is that Iran, which is a key backer of Hezbollah, will get involved, the official said. Tehran has not intervened yet, but they will if they believe they are about to lose their most powerful proxy force, Hezbollah, the official added. Dozens of US troops have been deployed to Cyprus amid sharply escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and they are preparing for a range of contingencies including a possible evacuation operation from Lebanon for US citizens should a full-blown war erupt, two US officials told CNN.

By Manveena Suri and Aishwarya S Iyer, CNN New Delhi (CNN) — India has confirmed its first case of a deadlier strain of mpox, which has raised alarm among health officials around the world over the rapid pace of its spread. The clade Ib strain of the virus was confirmed by health authorities in the southern state of Kerala after being detected last week in a 38-year-old man who had recently traveled to Dubai. On Wednesday, the state’s Health Minister Veena George hailed Kerala’s “robust health care system” for detecting the case. The outbreak of the strain, which had previously been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo, was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month after it spread to four previously unaffected African countries. The strain has since been detected in several countries outside Africa, including Sweden and Thailand. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO. Symptoms include fever, rash, lesions, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes. The virus is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades. Clade II was responsible for a global outbreak that WHO also declared a global health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023. Clade Ib causes more severe disease. According to Dr. Shubhin C, a health official in Kerala’s Mallapuram district, the infected patient is being tested every four days as he recovers in isolation in a local hospital. “The patient is better. The lesions have started healing. No new lesions. He does not have any fever and no other symptoms now,” the doctor told CNN, adding he would be discharged after two consecutive samples test negative. Authorities had identified 29 people who came into contact with the patient and they are now in self-quarantine, he said. Some 37 passengers on the flight from Dubai to Kerala and five other close contacts of the patient are being monitored, he added. Health authorities in Kerala are well-versed in grappling with infectious diseases. “Surveillance has been strengthened, including at airports,” said George, the health minister, adding there are five mpox testing facilities with more to be set up if required. Isolation facilities have also been established, she said. Last year, the state contained an outbreak of the Nipah virus after two people died. It shut schools and tested hundreds of people to prevent the spread of the rare and often deadly disease. The-CNN-Wire & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

By Christian Edwards, CNN (CNN) — Despite pledging a “battle without limits” against Israel, Hezbollah’s response to back-to-back Israeli attacks appears to have been carefully calibrated. Its strike Wednesday that was intercepted near Tel Aviv managed to be both unprecedented and understated. It marked many firsts: The first time Hezbollah launched what it said was a ballistic missile at Israel; the first time a missile had reached near Tel Aviv from Lebanon; and the first time Hassan Nasrallah, the militant group’s leader, made good on his promise to respond to Israeli strikes on Beirut with Hezbollah’s own on Tel Aviv. But given the strength of Israel’s air defenses, a single missile – even a ballistic one – was always likely to have been shot down. Why, then, launch just one? As the risk of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah – and their respective American and Iranian backers – grows each day, the lone shot on Tel Aviv could be taken as both a threat and a cease-and-desist. We have powerful weapons at our disposal, and a powerful friend at our beck and call – don’t try us, Hezbollah seemed to say. The militant group’s gloves are far from fully off – the group has a range of medium and long-range missiles in its arsenal – but Wednesday’s strike appeared to be a signal to indicate how powerful a punch it could pack. This strike is the latest notch in Hezbollah’s managed escalation as it seeks to respond to an intensive Israeli campaign to force the armed group to cease its daily fire at Israel’s northern-most territory. It is worth remembering how we got here. Hezbollah joined the fight against Israel out of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 attacks against Israel. So far, it has avoided a full-scale war with Israel. Until last week, it had largely limited its involvement to near-daily cross-border strikes that the Israeli military has returned. The strikes forced more than 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes in the north of the country, but the number of casualties remained relatively low. The Lebanese side of the border was also emptied of its nearly 100,000 residents in Israeli strikes as part of the cross-fire. But things began to spiral after a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan heights killed 12 Druze children. Israel accused Hezbollah of firing the rocket, which came from the direction of Lebanon, but Hezbollah has “firmly” denied it was behind the strike. For Israeli officials, though, the situation had become untenable. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to pivot from fighting Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by bellicose allies on his extreme right. For almost a year, Israel had waged its war in Gaza with the twin aims of destroying Hamas and returning the hostages it had taken. On September 16, Israel added a new objective: ensuring the safe return of residents from communities along its border with Lebanon to their homes. The next day, hundreds of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded across Lebanon. The day after, Hezbollah walkie-talkies also exploded. The twin attacks killed dozens and injured thousands, delivering a humiliating blow to the group. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, but CNN has learned the explosions were the result of a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. Israel’s attacks did not relent. The next day, it launched an airstrike on a multi-story building in a Beirut suburb where a group of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force had met, killing its leader Ibrahim Aqil other high-level figures. This week, another airstrike killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, another senior official who commanded Hezbollah’s missile units. Reeling from the biggest-ever hits to its military structure, Hezbollah has also discreetly expanded its war aims. It said it launched the ballistic missile Wednesday in support of Palestinians in Gaza and, crucially, in “defense of Lebanon and its people” – an explicit recognition that it is now engaged in a conflict to protect its own territory. While both sides have refrained from declaring that they are at war with each other, their ramped-up goals may make that moot. Hezbollah insists there will be no ceasefire in Lebanon until there is one in Gaza. Netanyahu’s government not only insists there will not be a ceasefire in Gaza – its pivot to Lebanon makes the possibility of a deal even more remote. Where do both sides go from here? Neither has much space to back down. As international calls to defuse the tensions grow, many Lebanese residents are not waiting to find out whether they will be successful. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Israel’s offensive has displaced up to half a million people. Beirut’s streets are emptying, as foreign embassies urge their citizens to flee the country and many Lebanese move even further north. After years of crises, the growing military conflict is inflicting further despair on Lebanon’s increasingly exhausted population. The fact that neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese authorities have called this a war is little consolation for those in throes of bombardment and mass displacement. The-CNN-Wire & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.