According to multiple sources, the United States has deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean near Israel as a form of deterrence and to support Israels military operations. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was already scheduled to deploy from Norfolk, Virginia, and has been ordered to the eastern Mediterranean to join the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group that arrived there earlier. The two carrier strike groups are not intended to join the fighting in Gaza or take part in Israels operations, but their presence is designed to send a message of deterrence to Iran and Iranian proxies in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is the flagship of the carrier strike group and will be joined by a guided-missile cruiser and two guided-missile destroyers. The deployment of the two carrier strike groups marks a major escalation in U.S. military power in the region as fighting intensifies between Israeli forces and Hamas militants. About 12,000 personnel are deployed or en route to the waters off Israel, in a swift buildup of the U.S. military presence.