Austin said this Sunday “in response to this attack by Hamas against Israel, and after detailed discussions with President (Joe) Biden, I have taken several steps to strengthen the Department of Defense’s posture in the region to reinforce the efforts of regional deterrence”.
According to a Pentagon statement, the US Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford was mobilized, as well as the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy, the missile destroyers Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt.
He also reported that the US Air Force’s F-35, F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter jet squadrons will increase in the region and that Washington will provide the Israeli Army with “additional equipment and resources, including ammunition”, which “will begin to move today and will arrive in the coming days.”
Austin made it clear that the “material support that we will quickly provide to Israel underscores the strong support of the United States for the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli people.”
For his part, Biden spoke again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he assured that additional assistance was “on the way.”
During this day, Israel intensified air attacks against various points in the Gaza Strip, while combatting areas near that enclave, less than 48 hours after the offensive of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) at dawn on Saturday.
While the Israeli security cabinet officially declared a “state of war,” which would give the green light to a large-scale offensive against the Strip.
This decision comes after the operation by Hamas, whose armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, launched thousands of rockets against Israeli territory and then began a ground offensive that took the Army and the security establishments in Tel Aviv by complete surprise.
The day before, when the head of the White House spoke with Netanyahu about the “horrible attack” by Hamas, he made no mention to the 75 years of suffering and displacement of the Palestinian people before the, until now, silent gaze of the United States Government itself and in the general sense of the international community, in a policy of double standards.
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