The Biden administration is sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, two defense officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the move ahead of its announcement.
The Associated Press has the story:
US to send the USS Dwight Eisenhower to E. Mediterranean
Newslooks- WASHINGTON
The Biden administration is sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, two defense officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the move ahead of its announcement.
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.
HAMAS SAYS THREE KILLED AFTER CROSSING BORDER BETWEEN LEBANON AND ISRAEL
BEIRUT — Hamas announced early Sunday that three of its members from Lebanon had been killed after crossing the border from Lebanon into Israel and clashing with Israeli forces.
The group said in a statement that its militants had “inflicted losses” before being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
Since the outbreak of the latest Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, there have been sporadic border clashes between Israeli forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, and with Palestinian armed groups in Lebanon including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
MONITOR SAYS ISRAEL ATTACKS AIRPORT IN NORTHERN SYRIA
BEIRUT — A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say Israel’s military has attacked the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo, putting it out of service.
Al-Watan daily said the Saturday night strike hit the runway of Aleppo airport — putting it out of service just hours after it was fixed following a similar Israeli strike on Thursday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the strike also hit the runway at Aleppo airport.
The attack on Aleppo airport came shortly after a rocket was reportedly fired from Syria into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
On Thursday, Israeli struck the runways in Aleppo and Damascus International Airport. Aleppo was fixed within a day before it was again targeted Saturday.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military, which rarely confirms such strikes.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SENDS SUPPLIES FOR GAZA
A planeload of World Health Organization supplies has landed at Egypt’s el-Arish airport and is destined for Gaza when humanitarian access across the border is possible, the U.N. said Saturday.
The cache includes enough basic essentials for 300,000 people and enough trauma medicines and materials for 1,200 wounded, the U.N. said in a release. It called for opening the Rafah border crossing immediately to humanitarian deliveries.
“The critically injured, the sick and the vulnerable cannot wait,” the world body said.
ISRAEL SAYS IT IS STRIKING MILITARY TARGETS IN SYRIA
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says it is striking targets in Syria after air raid sirens went off in two villages in northern Israel and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
In a statement, the military did not say what set off the sirens. It said it was firing artillery to strike back.
The incident is the latest in a continued flare-up along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and Syria after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli communities set off a war with Israel.
FAMILIES OF ISRAELI HOSTAGES SAY SOME OF THEIR LOVED ONES NEED MEDICINE
TEL AVIV, Israel — The relatives of Israelis taken captive by Hamas are demanding Saturday that the militant group allow in medicine to hostages who require it, saying their loved ones are suffering.
“Every day without her medication is torture. She’s being tortured,” said Yifat Zailer, who said her kidnapped 63-year-old aunt has Parkinson’s disease. She was taken along with several other family members, Zailer said.
In its assault on southern Israeli communities, Hamas militants captured dozens of Israelis and some foreign or dual nationals, including children, women and the elderly, dragging them into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday Israel had so far identified 126 captives. Their fate becomes more complicated as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza.
GERMANY TO START EVACUATING CITIZENS FROM ISRAEL
BERLIN — The German army will start evacuating its citizens from Israel with military airplanes. German news agency dpa reported that two A400M military transports were on their way from Germany to Israel on Saturday evening and further flights were planned, according to the German defense ministry.
In recent days, the German government helped with the evacuation of around 2,800 German citizens and their family members from Israel following Hamas’ attack on the country a week ago.
So far, they were predominantly flown out by civilian airplanes or brought across the border to Jordan by buses. German carrier Lufthansa stopped its scheduled flights from Israel at the beginning of the week, but it deployed a limited number of evacuation flights which ended on Saturday.
More than 100,000 residents of Israel hold dual German and Israeli citizenship.
HEZBOLLAH FIGHTER DIES DURING EXCHANGE WITH ISRAELI TROOPS
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says one of its fighters was killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops on Saturday.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV identified the dead fighter as Ali Youssef Alaaeddine. It gave no other details, saying his death happened “during the Zionist aggression on south Lebanon today.”
Alaaeddine is the fourth Hezbollah fighter killed since tensions increased along the Lebanon-Israel border following the deadly attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel Oct. 7. The war has since claimed at least 3,200 lives.
