By AP News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
The United States defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday. The moves come as the U.S. and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region. Read more.
Recent developments:
Officials have been on the lookout for retaliatory strikes by both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the U.S. has been increasing its presence in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
The Pentagon said Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day and reiterated America’s commitment “to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”
The call comes a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks of the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.
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