The Pentagon confirmed the dispatch of a strike group to the eastern Mediterranean

Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin confirmed the dispatch of a strike group to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, RIA Novosti reports, citing a statement from the US Department of Defense.

As reported. The strike group will be led by the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower. Earlier, another strike group led by the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford arrived in the eastern Mediterranean. The United States said that the purpose of strengthening the American presence in the region is to “deter third parties from expanding escalation around Israel.” At the same time, it was stated that the United States does not intend to fight on the side of Israel, and there are no plans for the participation of American forces in operations to free US citizens held hostage. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, in a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, pointed out the importance of following the “law of war” amid the worsening Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

On October 7, Israel was attacked by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, which carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. After a rocket attack, a centurion of Hamas fighters entered Israeli territory. Subsequently, Israel launched a retaliatory Operation Iron Swords, returned control of all settlements near the border with Gaza, and began to attack Gaza with aircraft and missiles, and also blocked supplies of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel to the region.

The number of victims of the exacerbation on both sides has long exceeded a thousand; among the dead there are citizens of Russia and many other countries. The Israel Defense Forces reported that Hamas was holding more than 120 civilians hostage in the Gaza Strip.

The Russian Foreign Ministry appealed to both sides to stop the fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the conflict cannot be resolved otherwise than on the basis of a decision of the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.