U.S. withdraws aircraft carrier Eisenhower from Red Sea

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said it has withdrawn aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower from the Red Sea following a deployment lasting several months in response to the large-scale attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.

The carrier and its strike group are on their way back to the U.S., the U.S. Regional Command for the Middle East (Centcom) said on Saturday.

The Eisenhower will be replaced by the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its convoy, which the U.S. military said is still in the Indo-Pacific and is scheduled to arrive to the Middle East next week.

For more than seven months, the Eisenhower and its convoy protected ships traveling through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and was involved in the rescue of sailors and in deterring the Houthi militia in Yemen, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said.

The Houthis, who have controlled parts of Yemen since 2014, have been targeting ships bound for Israeli ports or those owned by Israeli companies in the Red and Arabian seas and Indian Ocean for months, in what they say is retaliation for Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The militia also attacked U.S. and British ships off Yemen after the two countries began launching strikes on areas under the group’s control.

The United States, Britain and other Western countries have launched operations to protect ships in the region.