The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and strike group has passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, entering the Mediterranean Sea, ship tracking data from MarineTraffic.com shows.

The strike group — the aircraft carrier, a guided-missile cruiser and two guided-missile destroyers — were deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, on October 13.

It's now the second carrier strike group in the Mediterranean. The USS Gerald R. Ford strike group is currently in the eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Israel.

Some background: As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, the US is seeking to send a strong message to adversaries to prevent the conflict spreading more widely in the region.

CNN has reported that the US has intelligence that Iranian-backed militia groups are planning to ramp up attacks against US forces in the Middle East, as Iran seeks to capitalize on the backlash in the region to US support for Israel.

Roughly 900 US troops have been deployed or are deploying to the Middle East amid the heightened tensions in the region, the Pentagon announced this week, after previously putting roughly 2,000 troops on prepare-to-deploy orders. That is in addition to US troops already in Iraq and Syria – roughly 2,500 and 900, respectively – and Navy assets in the region, now including the Eisenhower and Ford.

/CNN