(NewsNation) — Amid an escalating Israel-Hamas war, the Pentagon announced Saturday it will deploy a second aircraft carrier called the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean.
“The increases to U.S. force Posture signals the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin in a statement.
This is part of the American government’s effort to deter regional actors, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Syrian government and Iran from interfering in the conflict and to allow Israel to proceed with its offensive.
This deployment supplements the presence of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which had already arrived in the region earlier in the week.
The U.S. Air Force has also announced the deployment of squadrons of F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircrafts to the area.
This deployment marks a significant milestone in the ongoing conflict, as it will be the first instance of two aircraft carriers and their accompanying escorts being dispatched to the Middle East since March 2020.
The previous deployment of dual aircraft carriers in the Middle East occurred in the wake of rocket attacks targeting Camp Taji, an Iraqi military facility located to the north of Baghdad.
These attacks resulted in the loss of two American soldiers and one British soldier. At the time, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was one of the carriers dispatched, and the other was the USS Harry S. Truman. Both carriers operated from the Arabian Sea during this period.
The Israeli military has officially announced preparations for a comprehensive assault on the Gaza Strip, encompassing land, sea and air operations. The Gaza Strip, about twice the size of Washington DC, is the focal point of this impending attack, with Gaza City, the largest metropolitan area in the territory, being a primary target.
While details remain scant, the United States is notably backing Israel in this endeavor. The USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships and aircraft are already stationed in the eastern Mediterranean. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the Dwight D. Eisenhower, currently off the coast of Virginia, will soon join the military assets in the eastern Mediterranean.
However, recent cross-border skirmishes between Israel and Syria, as well as a meeting between the Iranian foreign minister and a Hamas official in Doha, Qatar, illustrate the volatility of the situation and the potential for the conflict to escalate regionally, putting the trapped civilians in Gaza at risk.
The conflict began with Hamas breaching the Gaza Strip’s confines, launching attacks on Israeli military positions, kibbutzim, and communal farms, resulting in the tragic loss of approximately 1,300 Israeli lives.
American and Israeli officials have labeled this as the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust. Simultaneously, Gaza has been pounded by relentless airstrikes, resulting in the destruction of entire city blocks and a soaring death toll.
This conflict has reached historic proportions. The last sneak attack on Israel of this magnitude occurred in 1973, a half-century ago. American officials and Israeli leaders are striving to discourage Iran and other neighboring countries from entering the fray. However, the Palestinian issue is a powder keg, igniting anger and frustration across Arab nations and among the Arab populace who believe that the Palestinians have been denied the promised two-state solution outlined in the Oslo Accords decades ago.
On the Israeli side, there’s immense anger and a strong desire to dismantle Hamas, a goal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to achieving through this military offensive.