Pentagon chief orders submarine for Middle East and tells aircraft carrier to speed up its transit

WASHINGTON – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the aircraft carrier strike group USS Abraham Lincoln to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday.

The measures come as the US and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement which could help calm rising tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

Authorities have been looking for retaliatory attacks from both Iran and Hezbollah for the deaths, and the US has been strengthening its presence in the region.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day and reiterated the U.S. commitment “to take all possible steps to defend Israel and observed the strengthening of US military strength.” posture and capabilities across the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”

The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia-Pacific, had already been sent to the region to replace the aircraft carrier strike group USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is scheduled to begin returning home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area at the end of the month.

It was unclear Sunday what its latest order means, or how quickly the Lincoln will sail to the Middle East. The aircraft carrier has F-35 fighters on board, along with F/A-18 fighters that are also on the carriers.

Ryder also did not say how quickly the guided missile submarine USS Georgia would arrive in the region.

He said Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating civilian harm.

The appeal comes a day after an Israeli airstrike struck a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health officials said, in one of the deadliest attacks in recent memory. 10 months. Israel-Hamas War.