US DEFENSE SECRETARY SAYS 2ND CARRIER IS PART OF EFFORT TO PREVENT WIDENING OF WAR
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the additional carrier was being sent “as part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack on Israel.”
The Eisenhower will join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which is already sailing near Israel, to bolster U.S. presence there with a host of destroyers, fighter aircraft and cruisers.
The Eisenhower deployed from its homeport of Norfolk, Va., Friday. Having two carriers in the region can provide a host of options.
They can disperse and serve as primary command and control operations centers, to cover a wide swath of area. They can conduct information warfare. They can launch and recover E2-Hawkeye surveillance planes that provide early warnings on missile launches, conduct surveillance and manage the airspace.
Both ships carry F-18 fighter jets that could fly intercepts or strike targets. They also have significant capabilities for humanitarian work, including an onboard hospital with medics, surgeons and doctors, and they sail with helicopters that can be used to airlift critical supplies in or victims out.
IRANIAN PRESIDENT WARNS WAR COULD EXPAND IF ISRAEL'S SIEGE OF GAZA DOESN'T STOP
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s hard-line president spoke with France’s leader on Sunday, warning that war would expand if Israel’s siege of Gaza doesn’t stop, state-run media reported.
The official IRNA news agency said Ebrahim Raisi and Emmanuel Macron spoke over the phone. The Iranian president made no mention of the unprecedented Oct. 7 incursion by Gaza’s militant Hamas group into southern Israel that sparked the latest Hamas-Israel war. Iran has long been a supporter of Hamas.
“The situation will be complicated ... if the crimes by the Zionist regime, including the killing of people and blockade of Gaza, are not stopped,” Raisi was quoted as saying, referring to Israel. IRNA did not provide further details.
Earlier, the Elysee Palace confirmed this weekend that Macron planned to talk to Raisi to urge Iran not to fuel tensions in the region or provide any operational support to Hamas.
Macron intended to press the argument that bringing the violence to a rapid end is in everyone’s interests, including Iran’s, the presidential office said. France feels that Iran can play a positive role in the crisis by simply not getting involved in it, either with “words that are unacceptable” or by supporting Hamas.
Over the weekend, Raisi also spoke with leaders of Arab nations of Iraq, Oman and Qatar and urged them to support Gaza’s Palestinians, Iranian media said.
He also accused Israel of perpetrating a “genocide” in Gaza and criticized the United States for its support of Israel.
CHUCK SCHUMER AND VISITING US SENATORS RUSHED TO A TEL AVIV SHELTER DURING HAMAS' ROCKET ATTACK
TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on social media that a bipartisan group of senators visiting Israel was rushed to a shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday to wait out a rocket attack from Hamas. Schumer posted a photo of himself and Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah in the shelter.
“It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself,” Schumer said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, took the trip to show support for Israel ahead of an expected request from President Joe Biden for Congress to approve wartime funding for Israel as well as Ukraine. Schumer, a Democrat, has said he would also hold discussions with Israeli officials what kind of support the country would need for both military and humanitarian operations.
Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona were also on the trip.
SITUATION IS DESPERATE IN GAZA
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas' deadly attack.
Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides.
More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas' Oct. 7 assault. An estimated 150 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza. It's also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria.
The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict.
FORMER ISRAELI U.N. AMBASSADOR AND MESSIANIC HOLY LAND EXPERT JOEL C. ROSENBERG RUN FOR COVER
ISRAELIS IN THE SOUTHERN CITY OF SDEROT NEAR GAZA BOARD BUSES TO ESCAPE HAMAS' ROCKETS
JERUSALEM, Israel — Residents of the southern Israeli city of Sderot boarded buses for other parts of the country on Sunday to escape the rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Hamas militants who infiltrated Israel on a rampage that killed more than 1,300 people more than a week ago have also bombarded the country with thousands of rockets. Sderot, a city of about 34,000 people located about a mile from the Gaza border, has been a frequent target.
One of the residents, Yossi Edri, told Channel 13 before boarding a bus that "children are traumatized, they can’t sleep at night.”'
Thousands already left the city last week under a state-sponsored program that puts them up in hotels elsewhere as a respite from the violence. The program in Sderot was expanded Sunday.
“There is no reason to return to Sderot,” Mayor Alon Davidi told Army Radio. “It’s on the front line.”
