US Pulls Back Aircraft Carrier From Mediterranean - Report

Following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the US military deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean in a bid to "bolster regional deterrence efforts.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is to depart from the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the "coming days," ABC News reported, citing unnamed US officials.

Together with other surface ships that comprise the strike group, the US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier will reportedly return to its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, where it will prepare for future deployments. Despite the return of the aircraft carrier, the US will retain sufficient military capability in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, sources were cited as saying.

The Pentagon has not offered any official comment on the decision to bring back the aircraft carrier strike group.

In October, the carrier strike group was redirected to the Eastern Mediterranean to bolster in a show of force after the latest flare-up of the Palestine-Israel conflict.

A day after militant group Hamas staged a surprise large-scale attack on the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip on October 7, which prompted Israel to retaliate by pounding the Palestinian enclave, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a press release. He stated that aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford, Ticonderoga-class cruiser the USS Normandy, and four destroyers would be directed to the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, he informed that the US Air Force would be bolstered in the region with F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 aircraft squadrons.

On October 10, the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean, followed by the deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group. The US Navy subsequently announced that the USS Mount Whitney, a Blue Ridge-class command and control ship from the US 6th Fleet, had been dispatched to the conflict zone.

As Israel continued its war on Hamas in Gaza, Yemen's Ansar Allah rebel movement, also known as the Houthis, unleashed a campaign of attacks on cargo ships it believed to be linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The movement vowed to continue the attacks until Israel ends its military actions in the Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a multinational operation to "secure" the Red Sea on December 19, saying that the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles, and Spain would take part in the mission. In response, the Houthis vowed to attack any ships that joined the US-led maritime coalition.