WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East and directed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to move to the area more quickly, the Defense Department said Sunday.
The moves come as the US and other allies are pressuring Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement which increased tensions in the region after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
Officials are alert to retaliation from both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the US has stepped up its presence in the region.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Austin had spoken with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day and reiterated America’s commitment “to taking every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military power and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”
The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia-Pacific region, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group scheduled to return home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area later this month.
It was unclear Sunday what his latest order means, or how soon the Lincoln will steam to the Middle East. The carrier carries F-35 fighter jets, along with the F/A-18 fighter jets that also operate on carriers.
Ryder also did not say how soon the USS Georgia missile submarine would be on site.
He said Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the importance of limiting harm to civilians.
The call comes a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a Gaza school that had been converted into a shelter early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the past 10 months. War between Israel and Hamas.