U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday.

The moves come as the U.S. and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

Officials have been on the lookout for retaliatory strikes by both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the U.S. has been beefing up its presence in the region.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day, and reiterated America's commitment “to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”

The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia Pacific, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which is scheduled to begin heading home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area by the end of the month.

It wasn't clear Sunday what his latest order means, or how much more quickly the Lincoln will steam to the Middle East. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets aboard, along with the F/A-18 fighter aircraft that are also on carriers.

Ryder also did not say how quickly the USS Georgia guided missile submarine would get to the region.

He said Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel's military operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating civilian harm.

The call comes a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks of the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.

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Hezbollah is the 'X-factor' in looming Israel, Iran war with 'nation state capabilities'

Anxiety continues to mount over the threat of a regional conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran after Tehran this week pledged to hit the Jewish state following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh late last month.

But even as Israel squares up against its greatest adversary, a potentially more lethal threat looms right on its border — Hezbollah.

"The big X factor here is Hezbollah," former spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and current senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Jonathan Conricus told Fox News Digital. "Hezbollah has significant military capabilities at their disposal.

"They have nation state capabilities," he added.

The terrorist organization has been significantly backed by Iran for years, receiving weaponry, technological know-how and some $700 million annually, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

But it is not only their strategic capabilities that make them such a threatening force to contend with, it is the group's proximity to Israel, explained Conricus.

Hezbollah, based along Israel’s northern border in Lebanon, has plagued Israel’s security apparatus since its founding in 1982 following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which was carried out in response to a series of inter-border spats with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Israel has now found itself encircled by nearly two dozen terrorist organizations, the majority of which are backed by Iran in what has been dubbed Tehran’s "Ring of Fire."

Jerusalem, in response to its growing threats, developed a security system known as the Iron Dome, which has been operational since 2011, and has on numerous occasions proven successful in blocking the majority of projectiles levied at Israel. However, the most recent war in Gaza has shown that the Iron Dome is not fail-safe and extremist groups can bypass the defensive system, causing an increasing sense of alarm.

Security experts agree that Tehran will likely use a multi-layered approach in its next attack on the Jewish state by relying on proxy forces like Hezbollah in an attempt to overwhelm Israeli, U.S. and U.K. defenses — an operational strategy that Conricus believes could prove successful.

"Hezbollah has significant rocket and missile capabilities that can create a temporary significant challenge for Israeli air defenses, even with the assistance of allied countries that will come to Israel's assistance," the 24-year IDF veteran said.

Conricus said that despite U.N. Security Council resolutions barring the collection of arms in Lebanon by non-government groups, Hezbollah has been able to "stockpile" Iranian, Chinese and Russian weapons.

The former IDF spokesperson said he believes that Hezbollah has so far showcased just a quarter of its strike capabilities, and Jerusalem has made clear it will not take a light approach to any attack by the terrorist group — gearing the region up for a brutal confrontation.

"Israel has signaled that this isn't going to be the Second Lebanon War. This is going to be a much more fierce and powerful response from Israel, with less constraints and with less limitations because of what is at stake for Israel," Conricus said in reference to the 34-day war in 2006 in which 120 IDF soldiers and 40 Israeli civilians were killed, along with the deaths of a combined 1,100 Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah combatants.

Israel, the U.S. and the U.K. have moved swiftly to bolster their defensive and offensive capabilities, and security experts continue to speculate how and when Iran will strike Jerusalem after it threatened to do so on Monday.

Following an emergency meeting by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday at the request of Iranian and Palestinian officials, acting Iranian Foreign Minister Baqeri Ali Bagheri Kani said Tehran will respond to the killing of Haniyeh at "right time" in the "appropriate" manner, the BBC reported.

While U.S. officials reportedly hoped the OIC would help ease tensions, the Iranian official told members of the bloc that "it is expected" that they back Tehran.

The OIC later released a statement saying it holds Israel "fully responsible" for the "heinous attack" — which Jerusalem has not claimed credit for — but it stopped short of expressing support for Iranian military action.

Iran, which attacked Israel in April with some 300 missiles and drones, is expected to carry out a strike two to three times as great in its next assault, Conricus estimated.

"The challenge here for Iran, and this might be the [reason for the] delay, is that they're in a bit of uncharted territory having to fight for themselves," Conricus said. "They are being careful and trying to calculate what the Israeli response to the Iranian attack will be, and what they will be putting on the line."

Conricus described Iran’s Monday threats against Israel as "uncharacteristic" but noted the killing of Haniyeh, not only in Tehran, but in a complex heavily monitored by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, added "insult to injury."

Iran has now positioned itself for a confrontation with Israel and its Western allies where it cannot only rely on its proxy fighters like Hezbollah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad or the Houthis to carry out its strategic aims.

"They are in uncharted territory. They have to really fight," Conricus said. "And the Iranians are not used to fighting for themselves."

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Hamas refuses to attend Gaza cease-fire talks as Biden says it’s ‘still possible’ to reach deal

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said Sunday it would not participate in new negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza this week unless mediators presented a plan based on previous talks.

"The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on [President] Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution," Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram.

The terrorist group, which is still holding dozens of hostages including Americans, said it has shown "flexibility" throughout the negotiating process but that Israeli actions – including the assassination of its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last month – indicate it is not serious about pursuing a cease-fire agreement.

Hamas urged mediators, including the United States, Egypt and Qatar, to submit a plan to implement what was agreed on last month "instead of going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation's aggression."

President Biden told CBS News he believes it is "still possible" for both sides to reach a deal that includes the release of 115 hostages.

"The plan I put together, endorsed by G7, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, et cetera, is still viable," Biden told the network in an interview published Sunday. "And I’m working literally every single day – and my whole team – to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can."

Meanwhile, an Israeli senior official involved in negotiations has derided Hamas’ announcement as "a tactical move in preparation for a possible attack by Iran and Hezbollah and to try to obtain better terms for a deal."

The official told the Israeli news outlet Walla: "If Hamas does not come to the table, we will continue to crush their forces in Gaza."

The statements come after the Israeli military ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza, a day after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to Hamas-affiliated local health authorities.

The latest evacuation orders apply to areas of Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest city, including part of an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the military said rockets had been fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians and launching attacks from residential areas.

The war began when Hamas-led militants burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and rampaged through farming communities and army bases near the border, killing around 1,200 Israelis and abducting around 250 people. Of the remaining hostages, Israeli authorities believe around a third are likely dead.

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, says the Palestinian death toll from the war is approaching 40,000.

The months-long conflict has threatened to trigger a regional war as Israel has traded fire with Iran and its militant allies across the region.

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