Israel is massing troops and artillery around Gaza, the military said Wednesday, as it summons reservists to launch an offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. A plane carrying U.S. ammunition landed in Israel ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will arrive there this week in a show of support. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea is a “message of deterrence to other states or non-state actors that might seek to widen this war,” U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, as flare-ups near Israeli borders with Lebanon and Syria fuel fears of a spillover.
