Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday he has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel after the attack by Hamas that has left more than 1,000 dead on both sides. Americans were reported to be among those killed and missing.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance.
The large deployment, which also includes a host of ships and warplanes, underscores the concern that the United States has in trying to deter the conflict from growing. But the Israeli government formally declared war on Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas.
Preliminary reports indicate at least four American citizens were killed in the attacks and an additional seven were missing and unaccounted for, according to a US official. The numbers were in flux and could change as a fuller accounting is compiled, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss initial reports received by the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Most, if not all, of those reported dead or missing are dual US-Israeli citizens, the official said.
