U.S. plans to move Navy ships and military aircraft closer to Israel in a show of support as conflict rages on in Middle East after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel
US plans to move naval ships and military aircraft closer to Israel in show of support as Middle East conflict rages after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel
- The US will send military ships and aircraft closer to Israel as a show of support
- Washington believes Hamas’ latest attack may have been motivated to disrupt a possible normalization of Israel-Saudi Arabia ties
- The spiraling violence threatens to start a major new war in the Middle East
The United States will send several military ships and aircraft closer to Israel as a show of support, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
This comes as Washington believes that Hamas’ latest attack may be motivated to disrupt a possible normalization of Israel-Saudi Arabia ties.
Hamas fighters marched through Israeli towns as the country saw its bloodiest day in decades on Saturday.
Israel hit Palestinians with airstrikes in Gaza on Sunday, with hundreds reportedly killed on both sides.
The spiraling violence threatens to start a major new war in the Middle East.
The United States will send several military ships and aircraft closer to Israel as a show of support, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
The spiraling violence threatens to start a major new war in the Middle East
Austin also added that the United States would provide ammunition to Israel, and that its security aid would begin moving on Sunday.
The Pentagon will also add fighter jets to the region, he said.
US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that additional aid for the Israeli military is on its way to Israel and more will follow in the coming days, the White House said after their call.
Austin said he ordered a carrier strike group to be moved closer to Israel, which includes the Ford carrier and ships supporting it.
“I have directed the movement of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean,” he said in his statement.
The attack by Hamas launched at dawn on Saturday represents the largest and deadliest incursion into Israel since Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack in an attempt to reclaim territory lost in the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago.
“It would not be a surprise that part of the motivation may have been to disrupt efforts to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel together, along with other countries that may be interested in normalizing relations with Israel,” the US Secretary of State Foreign Affairs Antony Blinken told CNN. earlier on Sunday.
Hamas said on Saturday the attack was prompted by what it called escalated Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh highlighted threats to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, the continuation of an Israeli blockade on Gaza and Israeli normalization with countries in the region.
Netanyahu said last month he believed his country was on the verge of peace with Saudi Arabia, predicting the move could reshape the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s two holiest shrines, has long pushed for the Palestinians’ right to statehood as a condition for recognizing Israel – something many members of Netanyahu’s nationalist religious coalition have long opposed.
The United States said on Sunday that Saudi-Israel normalization efforts should continue despite the latest attack.
“We think it would be in both countries’ interests to continue to pursue this possibility,” Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told Fox News on Sunday.
Blinken added that the United States has also noted reports of several Americans being killed and kidnapped in Israel, and Washington wants to verify the details and figures.
“We have reports that several Americans have been killed. We are working overtime to verify this,’ Blinken said.
Blinken described the attack on Israel as a ‘terrorist attack by a terrorist organisation’.
Blinken added that there was relative calm in most of Israel on Sunday, but intense fighting in Gaza, a Palestinian enclave blockaded by Israel that has seen weeks of protests by youth groups over long-standing grievances related to the Israeli military occupation, the Palestinian citizen. cause and prolonged economic struggle.
He added that there was no evidence yet seen by the United States of Iran being behind the latest attack in Israel, but he noted the longstanding ties between Iran and Hamas, which rules Gaza.