The United States will provide munitions and equipment to Israel and boost American forces in the Middle East in response to the attacks by the Palestinian fighter group Hamas, the Pentagon said Sunday.

"The United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

The US defense chief also said he had directed the USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft carrier, and its accompanying warships to the eastern Mediterranean, and that Washington was augmenting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region.