Thousands of allied American and Filipino forces have opened annual combat drills that will include simulating the defense of the Philippine archipelago and seas in a battle scenario that has antagonized China.

The prospect of Israeli forces launching an assault into Gaza’s dense urban neighborhoods is bringing back searing memories of the deadly battles the U.S.-led coalition fought against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon has sent advisers, including a Marine Corps general versed in urban warfare, to Israel to assist in its plans to conduct a ground assault in Gaza.

Katheryn Hunter, a Marine drill instructor at Parris Island Recruit Depot in South Carolina, poses for a photo on May 27, 2020. In ways big and small, the virus is impacting training at the Marine Corps' Parris Island Recruit Depot and across the military. (AP Photo/Lolita Baldor)PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. The booming shouts of the rain-soaked Marine recruits echo across Leatherneck Square training field, barely muffled by their masks. But in ways big and small, the virus is impacting training at the Marine Corps' Parris Island Recruit Depot and across the military. Marine recruits go to either Parris Island or to Camp Pendleton in southern California, for 13 weeks of training.