The United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean “to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war”, as residents of Gaza City fled south to escape an expected Israeli ground attack in response to a murderous rampage by Hamas last weekend that left at least 1,300 people dead.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said late on Saturday that the presence of the USS Eisenhower and its affiliated warships in the eastern Mediterranean signalled Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war”.
