The British government announced, on Thursday, the deployment of the army in the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and enhance regional stability.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office said on Thursday that "London will deploy two British Royal Navy ships, helicopters and surveillance aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean in support of Israel and to enhance regional stability."

This comes as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced, on Thursday, that “the United States has not placed any conditions on the way Israel uses the weapons it supplies to fight Hamas.”

Austin said in press statements, following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels: “We have not set any conditions for providing this equipment.”

He added: “This is a professional army led by a professional leadership. We hope and expect that they will do things right while carrying out their campaign.”

Austin noted that the United States had not received “early warning or indications” that Hamas was making preparations for an attack on Israel.

Austin refused to "define the concept of proportionality" after calls were issued urging Israel to show restraint in its bombing campaign in Gaza.

Austin said: “Israelis have the right to protect their people, and we expect them to continue to focus on that.”

Hamas has killed 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, and has held about 150 hostages since the start of its “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on Saturday. In return, Israel responded by launching intense air strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians