During a recent regional tour, the U.S. Central Command reported that the top military commander in the Middle East commended the leadership of the USS Lincoln. The visit to the vessel, which has been deployed for an extended period, took place prior to the tour’s conclusion on Saturday. This acknowledgment highlights the ongoing military presence and operations in the region.
Extended deployments of carriers — which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board — have raised concerns.
“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday. In a statement Sunday, Cooper praised the leadership on the carrier for making mental health and resilience a priority.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said at least 11 people were killed. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes , killing at least 1,262 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October between Israel and Hamas.
The president’s office said the meeting called for Israel and Hamas to “fulfill their obligations under the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip,” without elaborating. Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” in June, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament . Separately, Kushner met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the U.S.-mediated deal.
Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the director of the U.S.-created Board of Peace overseeing the ceasefire , Nickolay Mladenov, are to meet with Netanyahu on Monday, according to a person familiar with the plans and a diplomat who both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting.
