US sending second aircraft carrier ‘to deter hostile actions against Israel’
- The USS Dwight D Eisenhower strike group includes a guided-missile cruiser, three guided-missile destroyers
- The US earlier deployed the USS Gerald R Ford carrier and its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean
The United States deployed a second aircraft carrier “to deter hostile actions against Israel” while President Joe Biden pushed for the protection of civilians amid the American ally’s siege and bombardment of Gaza.
The presence of the USS Dwight D Eisenhower and its affiliated warships in the eastern Mediterranean signals Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Saturday.
The strike group includes a guided-missile cruiser and three guided-missile destroyers.
The Eisenhower joins the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group which arrived earlier in the week “as part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack,” Austin said.
The US government has made it clear that the warships were not to take part in combat operations, but only serve as a deterrent to Hezbollah, Iran or others from taking advantage of the situation.