US aircraft carrier heading home after deployment to protect Israel
The United States Navy is bringing home its new aircraft carrier after an extended deployment to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to protect Israel in the regime’s war with the Palestinian Hamas resistance group in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a statement on Monday, the US Navy announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CGS) was heading home following months of extra duty at sea protecting the occupying regime.
The Ford carrier and its accompanying warships were deployed to the Mediterranean back in October in a bid to “contribute to our regional deterrence and defense posture,” the US 6th Fleet, the European-based US naval command, added.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 22,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 57,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
The abrupt war led to repeated extensions of the Ford CSG's deployment in the volatile region. Now, after being at sea for over 240 days, it will return to its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, “in the coming days.”
According to the US Navy, the Ford CSG will be replaced by the amphibious assault ship the USS Bataan and its accompanying warships, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall.
The three vessels had been in the Red Sea and had been sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean over the last few days, the statement added.
Along with the Ford CSG, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group had also been sent to the Mediterranean and the Middle East to protect Israel.
“The United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in October.
The US has been a steadfast supporter of Israel for decades, both diplomatically and militarily. Each year, the US provides around $4bn of military support to the regime and since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in October, the US sent an additional $14bn in military aid.
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