The Defense Department plans to send a few dozen US troops to the Middle East in the coming days to be ready to help Americans flee the region bracing for a significant escalation in the simmering conflict between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, according to three defense officials NBC reports.

The US forces will add to the roughly 40,000 troops already in the region. The new troops will have a different mission, the officials said, specifically to be on standby if the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatens Americans and evacuations are needed.

The Pentagon press secretary, Pat Ryder, said Monday that the US was sending a small number of additional American forces “to augment our forces that are already in the region.” He declined to identify how many of the additional troops would be deployed, why or where, citing operational security.

Biden administration officials are concerned about a lack of understanding about what Israel’s plans are when it comes to conflict with Hezbollah, an issue that has also arisen at times during Israel’s war against Hamas.