Xinhua reported citing Lloyd Austin's statement that he had directed the movement of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which consists of an aircraft carrier, a guided missile cruiser, and four guided missile destroyers, to the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Pentagon had also "taken steps to augment US Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the region," the defense chief added.
He noted that the US government will be rapidly providing the Israeli regime with additional equipment and resources, including munitions.
The first round of US security assistance to Israel "will begin moving" on Sunday "and arriving in the coming days," Austin said.
Hamas Resistance movement launched the large-scale operation on Saturday with a heavy barrage of rockets in response to the Israeli regime’s desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence.
Both sides report hundreds of dead and thousands of injured as a result of the escalation of the conflict.
AMK/PR