From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
US carrier sent to Mediterranean after Hamas Oct. 7 massacre to return to base
The US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, deployed to the eastern Mediterranean after the deadly attack on Israel by Palestinian terror group Hamas on October 7, will return to the United States “in the coming days,” the US Navy says.
Sent to “contribute to our regional deterrence and defense posture,” the carrier will “redeploy to its home port as scheduled to prepare for future deployments,” the Navy announces in a statement.
“The Department of Defense continually evaluates force posture globally and will retain extensive capability both in the Mediterranean and across the Middle East,” the statement adds.
The Navy says it was “collaborating with Allies and partners to bolster maritime security in the region.”
It notes that the Defense Department will continue to rely on the presence of its forces in the region — including the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group — “to deter any state or non-state actor from escalating this crisis beyond Gaza.”
A new generation aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford is a 100,000-ton nuclear-powered ship equipped with new technologies.
After Hamas’ murderous assault on Israel on October 7 — when Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 240 hostages — Washington provided military support to Israel and reinforced its forces in the region, including the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships. It came with a warning to Iran, Hamas’s backers, and Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
