Brief Ike Update, Also Hezbollah - Israel
As far as I can tell, it appears that conclusions were drawn regarding the coincidence of Houthi targeting of the USS Eisenhower (and other ships in its vicinity) and the withdrawal of the Ike north from Yemen toward Jeddah. However, it now appears that the Ike is going past Jeddah, much further north—repositioning in light of Houthi attacks, or part of a change of deployments? While the Ike is overdue to be replaced in this area, US Navy deployments have been stretched well past normal limits in these times. No word yet on a replacement carrier if that’s the case. Or is this repositioning in the direction of Israel, based on intel we don’t have—which we also saw at the time of Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Israel?
Spotted on May 28th off al Qunfundah, then more recent supply flights shown an advance between the 31st May and the 1st June.
This next image seems to show Ike proceeding north past Jeddah:
Spotted via sentinel-2 today
And this final update suggests that Ike is heading toward Suez.
The USS Eisenhower continues to take distance & is now 1.100 Km away from Yemen.
Fighting continues today in the extreme northern part of Israel. It appears that, having seriously degraded Israel’s ISR and other surveillance capabilities in the area, Hezbollah has launched an upscaled and widened rocket/missile offensive. The attacks have caused major fires, focused on Kiryat Shmona, but extending as far south as Tiberias:
Yesterday there were major attacks also directed at Nahariya
Megatron reported yesterday quoting Israeli Channel 12:
A heavy war is currently taking place in the border regions between Israel and Lebanon
Israeli Channel 12:
"Today witnessed sirens and gunfire throughout the north, intense missile barrages towards the Galilee, and tens of thousands of residents entered fortified places.
The war routine in the north now also includes towns in Israel that have not been evacuated."
Metulla Mayor David Azoulay: "We are losing entire communities. People cannot survive. There is no agriculture, no tourism, there is nothing here. More than 170 homes were hit in Metulla."
Fires broke out in Nahariya following the launching of missiles and drones from Lebanon
Report of hearing a strong explosion in the Haifa area
This has the appearance of a significant escalation, in that the extent and intensity of these attacks is new, but what it portends remains speculative. Retaliation for Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon? Preparation for attempts to enlarge the no-go zone in northern Israel? We shall see. You can find video clips at Megatron’s feed.
Ike moving up to anchor off the coast of Lebanon.