The amphibious ship USS Bataan (LHD-5), with a Marine detachment aboard, is making its way to the eastern Mediterranean in the latest step the U.S. has taken to aid Israel’s retaliation against Hamas terrorists.

While U.S. officials say the troops are not meant to see combat but to act in advising and medical assistance capacities and no service members have been given orders to prepare to deploy, Defense Secretary Austin’s move to place American troops — stationed both inside and outside the Middle East — on notice is a sign of the U.S.’s support for a still-hypothetical ground operation in Gaza.

The Biden administration already deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the seas off the coast of Israel, where it arrived last week. But Austin’s orders are the first indication that any ground troops might land in Israel in any capacity, regardless of whether they will be involved in the fighting. A USCENTCOM press release on October 10 explained that “the arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation.”

The White House had been unconditionally supportive of Israel’s efforts to strike back against the Hamas terrorist organization that massacred civilians in an unprovoked attack on October 7 until very recently. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden warned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to operate “according to the rules of war.” Human rights organizations like Amnesty International have accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions against Gazan civilians, which Israel has denied and which would be in contravention of international norms of warfare. The Amnesty International image of what it said were white phosphorus canisters, though, turned out to have been a picture of smokescreen rounds, harmless munitions.

In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday, Biden urged Israel not to occupy Gaza. The president said that while eliminating Hamas and Hezbollah is necessary for the Jewish state’s defense, an occupation would be “a big mistake.” 

Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said in response that Israel has no intention of conducting a prolonged occupation of the Gaza Strip.