US moves warships closer to Israel after unprecedented Hamas attack

US pledges support for Israel after deadliest attack since 1973 war
Josh Salisbury9 October 2023

The US is moving an advanced aircraft carrier, ships and jets to the eastern Mediterranean after the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that he had ordered a large deployment including the USS Gerald R Ford with its deck of warplanes, alongside cruises and destroyers, to the eastern Mediterranean in a show of support with Israel.

It follows the Hamas attack on southern Israel, which US President Joe Biden called an “unprecedented and appalling assault”, which has left more than 700 Israelis dead and more than 100 taken hostage.

The White House said additional military aid would be sent to Israel in the coming days, including munitions.

Iran, which backs Hamas with funding and arms, alongside another Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, has denied involvement in the attack.

It has however expressed support for the attack, calling it a “wholly legitimate” response to occupation.

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People attend a vigil for Israeli victims at the Stephen Wise Temple, in Los Angeles
AFP via Getty Images

Hamas has said assistance from Iran helped it carry out its attack, which saw hundreds of fighters break through Israeli border fortifications around the Gaza Strip and attack civilians.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had not seen evidence of direct Iranian involvement in the attack, but that Iran had been helping Hamas for years.

“Hamas wouldn’t be Hamas without the support that it’s gotten over many years from Iran,” he told US TV.

“We haven’t yet seen direct evidence that Iran was behind this particular attack or involved. But the support over many years is clear.”

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Rockets fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome
AFP via Getty Images

The large deployment signals the Biden administration’s desire to deter any regional expansion of the conflict.

Mr Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the attack in a telephone call on Sunday, discussing “the taking of hostages by Hamas terrorists, including entire families, the elderly, and young children,” according to a White House statement.

The Hamas assault on Saturday, the biggest attack on Israel in decades, was the deadliest since the 1973 Yom Kippur war involving Egypt and Syria.

In response to the Hamas attacks, Israeli air strikes have hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including 20 children.

More than two days after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion out of Gaza, Israeli forces were still battling militants holed up in several locations.

As of Monday morning, the military said it was fighting Hamas in “seven to eight" places in southern Israel.

The UN Security Council is due to meet in New York shortly to discuss the attack.

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