The United States is sending the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia to the Middle East and expediting the transit to the region of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, “in light of escalating regional tensions,” the Pentagon said Sunday.
In a conversation with Israeli Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant, “Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take all possible steps to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of the posture and capabilities of U.S. military forces throughout the Middle East,” a Pentagon transcript of the conversation said.
The two defense officials also “discussed Israeli operations in Gaza and the importance of limiting harm to civilians, progress toward achieving a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza,” as well as efforts to deter Iran, Hezbollah and other Iran-allied groups in the region.
Indra Beaufort / AP
On Monday, the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany and France issued their own joint statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages and the “unhindered” delivery of aid to Gaza.
They urged Iran and its proxies, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, to refrain from any attacks that could further escalate the conflict in the region.
“They will bear responsibility for actions that undermine this opportunity for peace and stability,” the joint statement said. “No country or nation stands to gain from further escalation in the Middle East.”
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, announced on Monday that 142 more people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the past 48 hours, bringing the Palestinian death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 39,897.
Hamas militants attacked Israel On October 7, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage. Approximately 110 hostages remain in Gaza, and Israeli authorities estimate that approximately one-third of the remaining hostages are no longer alive.
On Saturday, in one of the deadliest attacks in Gaza since the start of the war, an Israeli strike on a school converted into a shelter in Gaza City killed at least 80 people, according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas command center inside a mosque on the grounds of Al-Taba’een school and used “three precise munitions that, according to professional analysis, cannot cause the extent of the damage reported by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza.”
In a statement, Hamas said those in the compound were displaced people seeking shelter and were killed while performing dawn prayers.
“They are liars, liars, liars,” one woman said of the Israeli army. “There were no fighters. No one had weapons. We were mostly women.”
