U.S. Moves Carrier Group To Middle East - Infographics

The Pentagon is sending the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and its strike group to the Middle East in an effort to deter others from escalating the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Eisenhower was supposed to join the USS Ford strike group in the eastern Mediterranean, but is being redirected in response to a growing number of attacks on U.S. facilities in the region.

Additional military forces in the U.S. have also been placed in a higher state of readiness for a possible future deployment to the Middle East on short notice.

Over the last week, there have been a growing number of security incidents involving drone and rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq that appear to have been carried out by Iranian-backed groups opposed to the U.S. support of Israel in its war against Hamas.

The U.S. is also adding more air defence systems and troops to the Middle East to protect its military forces in the region including a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Air Defence) missile battery and additional Patriot air defence battalions, according to ABC News.