U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly toward the area, the Defense Department said Sunday.
The moves come as the United States and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement that could help calm rising tensions in the region following the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
Authorities have been on alert for possible retaliatory strikes for the killings by both Iran and Hezbollah, and the United States has been strengthening its presence in the region.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day and reiterated the U.S. commitment “to take all possible measures to defend Israel and highlighted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities across the Middle East in light of rising regional tensions.”
The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia-Pacific, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is scheduled to return home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area by the end of the month.
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It was not clear Sunday what his latest order means or how quickly the Lincoln will head to the Middle East. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets on board, in addition to the F/A-18 fighter jets also on board the carriers.
Ryder also did not say how quickly the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia would arrive in the region.
He said Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating harm to civilians.
The call comes a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 more, Palestinian health officials said, in one of the deadliest attacks of the 10-month conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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