US deploys further strike group to the eastern Mediterranean
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin has deployed the USS Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean.
He said it was part of the US's "effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas's attack on Israel".
The carrier strike group (CSG) consists of the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and USS Mason, and Carrier Air Wing 3, with nine aircraft squadrons and embarked headquarters staff.
They will join the USS Gerald R Ford strike group which arrived in the region earlier in the week.
The Ford CSG includes the USS Normandy, USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt.
Plus, the US Air Force announced deployment to the region of squadrons of F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircraft.
These latest deployments, Austin says, signal the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and its resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war.
He added: "For any country, for any group or anyone thinking about trying to take advantage of this atrocity to try to widen the conflict or to spill more blood, we have just one word – don't."
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