The USS Eisenhower carrier strike group will move to the Eastern Mediterranean to join the USS Ford carrier strike group that arrived there earlier this week, a senior U.S. official and a U.S. official told ABC News.

U.S. officials have said publicly this week that the presence of the USS Ford carrier strike group in the Eastern Mediterranean was intended as a deterrent to Iran and Hezbollah, not to get involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Eisenhower joining the Ford will increase the show of force enhancing that message of deterrence.

The Eisenhower strike group includes the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and the cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), and the destroyers USS Laboon (DDG-58), USS Mason (DDG-87) and USS Gravely (DDG-107).

The strike group left Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday bound for a previously scheduled deployment that would take it to the Middle East via the Mediterranean Sea. While in the Mediterranean it was to have participated in previously-scheduled exercises in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.

Earlier this week the Pentagon issued a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would "continue to review both the Eisenhower and Ford’s deployment plans as he considers the appropriate balance of maritime capability across theaters in support of national security priorities."

-ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Luis Martinez

Twenty-nine Americans have been confirmed dead in Israel, according to a State Department spokesperson, up from 27.

Additionally, 15 U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident of the U.S. are still unaccounted for, the spokesperson said.

"State Department personnel have been in contact with their families," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The U.S. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts."

-ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday and “discussed the importance of adhering to the law of war, including civilian protection obligations, and addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza while Israel continues its operations to restore security," according to the Pentagon.

President Joe Biden spoke on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

On Biden's call with Abbas, the president "reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination” and “offered President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority his full support for these important and ongoing efforts,” according to the White House.

The Israel Defense Forces said over the last few days its soldiers have fought Hamas terrorists in Israeli areas around the Gaza Strip and have since regained control of communities, evacuated the injured and taken Hamas fighters' weapons.

Now Israeli soldiers are "preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans, which can include combined and coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land ... with an emphasis on significant ground operations," the IDF said.

As Americans inside Gaza wait for the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to open, a senior State Department official said that Egypt has informed the U.S. that “there are acute security threats" preventing U.S. officials and others from aiding Americans inside Gaza.

The official added that the State Department has placed a team on the Egypt side of the border "as close to the border as conditions permit."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Monday that Israel has not allowed the opening of the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza side.

Shoukry said, since the crisis broke out, Egypt "has been seeking to keep the crossing operational and in a way that allows the entry of humanitarian aid."

"Until now, unfortunately, the Israeli government has not taken a position to allow the opening of the crossing from the Gaza side for the entry of aid or the exit of nationals of [other] countries," Shoukry said. "We are ready and Egyptian authorities on the border are ready to get aid in and get nationals of third countries out."

He added that Egypt aims to keep normal operation of the border "for the entry of Palestinians with medical needs or the normal movement between the Strip and Egypt."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford