Pentagon chief orders submarine to Middle East

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin (Susan Walsh/AP)

US defence 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 Defence Department said.

The moves come as the US and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a ceasefire 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.