WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel warned U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call Tuesday that a military operation was going to take place in Lebanon but gave no details, U.S. officials said Thursday. The same day of the call, in an attack widely blamed on Israel, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded.
The call was one of four between Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week as attacks have spiked between Israel and Hezbollah, fueling worries that they could escalate into a wider regional war.
The two spoke again later Tuesday, and the U.S. has acknowledged being briefed following the attack. There was another call Wednesday, and they also spoke Sunday, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.
The officials said the U.S. did not get advance warning of the second wave of attacks, with walkie-talkie radios targeted Wednesday. At least 37 people were killed, including two children, and some 3,000 wounded in the two days of explosions.
The officials stressed that the U.S. played no role in the attacks and said they were surprised by the specifics of the operations.
The attacks on electronic devices this week appeared to be the culmination of a monthslong operation by Israel to target as many Hezbollah members as possible all at once — but civilians were also hit.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Thursday acknowledged the four calls but did not provide timelines of when they happened. She said the U.S. has not made any changes in its force posture in the region as a result of the recent surge in attacks.
During a call Wednesday with Gallant, Austin spoke about regional security developments and reiterated America’s unwavering support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies in the region, Singh said.
Austin “emphasized the U.S. commitment to deterring regional adversaries, deescalating tensions across the region, and reaffirmed the priority of reaching a cease-fire deal that would bring home hostages held by Hamas,” she said.
He also pushed for a diplomatic solution that would allow civilians on both sides of Israel's northern border with Lebanon to return to their homes, Singh said.
Asked about the potential for a U.S. military evacuation of American citizens in Lebanon, Singh said the Pentagon has not gotten a request from the State Department to do that. State did urge U.S. citizens in Lebanon to maintain a low profile and review their security awareness in alerts this week.
State Department and White House officials say there are longstanding contingency plans for the potential evacuation of Americans in Lebanon but they have no information to suggest that those will become operational anytime soon.
“We have evacuation plans available for places all over the world,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. “But I wouldn’t lead that to believe that we’re in a moment now where we think we need to imminently call for that or act on that right now.”
Other officials said U.S. Navy ships with Marines on board are already well-positioned in the Mediterranean Sea to assist if asked.
AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a Sept. 11 observance ceremony at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
PHOENIX (AP) — From heartbreak and devastation to outrage, Emily Pike's tragic death is stirring heavy emotions and putting the spotlight to a crisis that has long plagued Native American communities, where a disproportionate number of people have been killed or have gone missing.
In the case of the San Carlos Apache teenager, she disappeared from her group home on the edge of a Phoenix suburb in late January.
Authorities posted her picture on social media, saying she was missing and had possibly run away. Just a couple inches shy of 5 feet tall, she was wearing a pink and gray shirt.
It was nearly a month later that sheriff's deputies in a neighboring county reported finding and identifying Pike's remains. It was more than 80 miles (129 kilometers) from where she was last seen.
Since then, news of her brutal death has reverberated through Indian Country and beyond. A crowd gathered Thursday at an intersection in Mesa, near her group home, to honor her life and to press for changes that might help curb the violence.
Dozens of people of all ages viewed the vigil's program on a large inflatable projector. Clad in red, they embraced, shielded candle flames on the windy night and held posters that read “No more stolen sisters” and “Justice for Emily Pike.”
“These tears that are shed are a part of a healing process,” said Mary Kim Titla, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Titla was wearing pink — Pike's favorite color. She said Pike had dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
Advocates say the crisis stems from colonization and forced removal, which marginalized Indigenous people by erasing their culture and identity. Limited funding, understaffed police departments and a jurisdictional checkerboard that prevents authorities from working together have only exacerbated the issue.
Pike's case has drawn the attention of hundreds of thousands of people through social media. Some have shared photos of themselves, their mouths covered with a red handprint that has become emblematic of the movement to end the violence. Posts included the hashtags #NoMoreStolenSisters, #SayHerName and #JusticeforEmily.
In Wisconsin, organizers planned for their own candlelight vigil. Fliers in Colorado encouraged people to wear red, and Daisy Bluestar, a Southern Ute tribal member on Colorado's Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives Task Force, posted a video about Pike with the hashtag #ColoradoStandsWithYou.
The girl's basketball team at Miami High School in Arizona wore jerseys with “MMIW” and a red handprint on the back.
“We’re all mourning this terrible loss of a precious young girl. Emily really has become everyone’s daughter, granddaughter and niece,” Titla said.
Titla herself has three female relatives who went missing and were killed. She said the community has come together to honor Pike and to demand justice. This shared solidarity comes from a desire for healing from historical and generational trauma, she said.
“It affects so many people," Titla said, “and I think the reason is because we all know someone — it could be a relative, it could be a friend, it could be in our own tribal community.”
Pike's remains were found northeast of Globe, Arizona, the Gila County Sheriffs Office said.
Like many others, her case involves multiple agencies. Gila County is working with Mesa police, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Mesa police typically don't investigate runaway reports, but the agency did list Pike as missing on its Facebook page two days after the group home reported she was gone.
Arizona's Department of Child Safety requires notification of a child's missing status to occur within a day of receiving the information. However, that requirement doesn't extend to tribal social services, according to Anika Robinson, president of the nonprofit foster care advocacy group ASA Now. Pike was in the custody of San Carlos Apache Tribe Social Services, which could not be reached for comment, at the time she went missing from the group home in Mesa.
Mesa police reported Pike as missing to the National Crime Information Center the evening of Jan. 27. Police have said it would have been up to the group home to contact her case manager who then would have contacted Pike's family or tribe.
The girl's mother, Steff Dosela, has said in interviews that she didn't hear about her daughter’s disappearance until a week later.
Robinson questioned why it took so long. “Imagine what probably had already transpired by that week,” she said.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2023 created a task force to identify policies for addressing the high rates of disappearances and killings among the Native American population. A final report is due in 2026.
Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming also have created task forces dedicated to the crisis.
President Donald Trump during his first term created the nation's first task force to begin looking at the problem, dubbing it Operation Lady Liberty. The Biden administration followed with a special unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. attorneys' offices in key areas began taking a closer look at unsolved cases, and top officials held listening sessions across the nation. Just last month, the federal government launched an initiative to help solve missing and unidentified person cases.
Tiffany Jiron, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, said more comprehensive law enforcement training that address jurisdictional challenges, increased funding for tribal programs that provide shelter, mental health resources and legal aid to impacted families and survivors and strengthened alert systems are among the policy solutions that advocates should continue to fight for to address the systemic crisis.
“As an Indigenous people, we are not invisible,” she said. “We deserve just as much attention from law enforcement. Our cases are involving real people, real families, real children.”
People attend a vigil for slain Native American teen Emily Pike in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow)
A sign lies on the ground at a vigil for slain Native American teen Emily Pike in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow)
People attend a vigil for slain Native American teen Emily Pike in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow)
A tribute to slain Native American teen Emily Pike adorns a fence near a vigil in her honor in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow)
People attend a vigil for slain Native American teen Emily Pike in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow)
