The commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has arrived in the occupied territories to help Israel prepare for Iran and Hezbollah’s retaliatory strikes in response to the recent assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and the deadly strike on southern Beirut, US media says.

According to The Iran Project, General Michael Kurilla landed in the occupied lands on Saturday, the American news website Axios quoted two US officials as saying in a report.

“The US general in charge of American forces in the Middle East arrived in the region on Saturday as preparations continue for a possible attack against Israel from Iran in retaliation for the assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders,” the report said.

Axios said that his trip was planned before the killing of Hezbollah’s top commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli air strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday night, and Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran hours later.

It added that Kurilla is expected to use the trip to try to mobilize West Asian allies to foil any attack emanating from Iran, similar to Operation True Promise, a large-scale operation against Israeli-occupied territories last April.