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The United States is sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean "to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas's attack," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.
The USS Eisenhower and its affiliated warships will join another carrier group already deployed to the region in the wake of the attack on Israel a week ago and Israel's ongoing response.
The deployment signals Washington's "ironclad commitment to Israel's security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war," Austin said in a statement.
The same day as the announcement of the second carrier deployment, U.S. President Joe Biden underscored U.S. support for efforts to protect civilians amid the Israeli siege and bombardment of Gaza in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"President Biden affirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians," the White House said in a statement about the call, which did not specifically mention the enclave.
Biden also spoke on Saturday with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas for the first time since conflicts broke out, condemning "Hamas' brutal attack on Israel."
"Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination," Biden told Abbas, according to a White House statement about the conversation between the two leaders, in which Biden also pledged "full support" to the Palestinian authority.
Read more: Humanitarian crisis worsens as Palestinians flee their homes to southern Gaza
(Cover: A file photo of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. /CFP)
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Copyright © 2023 CGTN. 京ICP备16065310号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466