US defense secretary makes unannounced visit to aircraft carrier defending Israel

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin flies out to the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier to meet with the sailors he has ordered to remain at sea to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spilling over into a deadlier regional conflict.

Austin is in the region to press Israel to shift its offensive in Gaza to a more limited campaign and more quickly transition to address Palestinian civilians’ dire humanitarian needs.

At the same time, the US has been concerned that Israel will launch a military operation along its northern border with Lebanon to expel Hezbollah terrorists who have been carrying out daily attacks along the frontier, potentially opening a second front and widening the war.

Austin ordered the carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean to be closer to Israel the day after Hamas terrorists stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people. The aircraft carrier’s more than 4,000 sailors and the accompanying warships were supposed to be home in early November.

Using the public address system of the Ford, which is sailing a few hundred miles off the coast of Israel, Austin thanks the sailors and their families for giving up spending the holidays together because of the mission.

“Sometimes our greatest achievements are the bad things we stop from happening,” Austin tells the crew. “In a moment of huge tension in the region, you all have been the linchpin of preventing a wider regional conflict.”