US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin In view of the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, sending a submarine equipped with guided missiles and the USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft carriers Ordered to depart more quickly in the area.
According to the news agency AFP, this move has come at a time when the United States and other allies Israel And agitation are pushing for a cease-fire deal that could help defuse rising tensions in the region after the killings of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
Following the assassination of these leaders, both Iran and Hezbollah have threatened Israel with retaliatory attacks, prompting the Pentagon to increase its presence in the region.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yov Gallant and reiterated the United States’ “commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel.”
The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, which is sailing in the Asia-Pacific, has already been ordered to the region and will replace the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is returning to the United States from the Middle East. is in preparation. Austin said last week that Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area in the Middle East by the end of this month.
The carrier carries F-35 and FA-18 fighter jets.
Ryder did not say how soon the USS Georgia guided-missile submarine would arrive in the region.
Austin and his Israeli counterpart also discussed Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the importance of reducing civilian casualties, he said.
The talks came a day after an Israeli airstrike on a school-based shelter in Gaza killed at least 80 Palestinians on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Hamas on Sunday urged mediators to implement the cease-fire plan presented by US President Joe Biden instead of further negotiating the deal.
International mediators have invited Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations for a ceasefire and a hostage-release deal.
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Israel, whose Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is accused of prolonging the war for political gain, has accepted an invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for a round of talks scheduled for Thursday.
Hamas said on Sunday it wanted to implement the cease-fire plan presented by Biden on May 31 and later ratified by the UN Security Council, rather than further rounds of negotiations or new proposals. Instead, Hezbollah, on the other hand, says that two of its fighters were killed in the latest Israeli attack.
Israeli police examine the site of a Hezbollah drone strike near the northern city on August 6, 2024 (AFP)
The Lebanese group said the deaths were the result of an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the Israeli attack targeted the village of Tayyaba, where two people were reported killed.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said that it “targeted several Hizbollah military structures throughout the day in the Addisah area, which is near the village of Tayyaba.”
Hezbollah said it fired rockets late Monday night in response to an Israeli attack that targeted troops stationed in northern Israel.
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2024-08-12 05:35:37
