This is the best summary I could come up with:

WASHINGTON — Amid tensions in the Middle East, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, including spending four days in the intensive care unit, according to two senior administration officials.

Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder told NBC News that Austin “resumed his full duties” on Friday evening.

The third in line among Pentagon civilian leadership, the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is occupied temporarily as an acting position because nominee Derek Chollet has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the source said.

Asked why the Pentagon kept Austin’s hospitalization secret, Ryder told NBC News, “This has been an evolving situation in which we had to consider a number of factors.”

On Dec. 30, a U.S. Navy destroyer shot down two Houthi missiles after it responded to a strike on a container ship that resulted in no injuries or damage, military officials said at the time.

The U.S. is also wary of further regional entanglement as Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exchange munitions with Israel along its northern border.

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