The United States provided intelligence on the hostages ahead of Israel’s successful rescue operation on Saturday, according to U.S. and Israeli officials briefed on the aid.
A U.S. official said a team of U.S. hostage rescue officers stationed in Israel assisted the Israeli military in rescuing four captives by providing intelligence and other logistical support.
According to a senior Israeli defense official familiar with the situation, intelligence collection and analysis teams from the United States and Britain have been in Israel throughout the war, assisting Israeli intelligence services in collecting and analyzing information related to the hostages, some of whom are from both countries. citizen.
Two Israeli intelligence officials said U.S. military officials in Israel provided some information about the hostages rescued on Saturday.
President Biden, speaking after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, said he welcomed “the safe rescue of the four hostages and their return to Israel to be reunited with their families.” We will not stop until all hostages are home and a ceasefire is reached Work, this is crucial.
The Pentagon and the CIA have been providing information on the potential locations of the hostages gleaned from drone flights over Gaza, communications intercepts and other sources. The Israeli official said that while Israel has its own intelligence, the United States and Britain are able to provide intelligence from the air and cyberspace that Israel cannot collect on its own.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan celebrated the rescue and glanced at U.S. aid.
“The United States supports all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, including U.S. citizens,” Sullivan said in a statement. “This includes through ongoing negotiations or other means.”
Mr Sullivan added that a ceasefire proposal currently being discussed by negotiators from Hamas, Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the United States would be a way to bring the remaining hostages home.
“The hostage release and ceasefire agreement currently on the table will ensure the release of all remaining hostages while providing security guarantees for Israel and providing relief to innocent civilians in Gaza,” he said.
U.S. officials said their intelligence support to Israel has focused on the location of the hostages and information on Hamas’ top leadership. In large part, that’s because U.S. officials believe the best way to convince Israel to end the war is to recapture the hostages and capture or kill senior Hamas leaders.
Israeli officials said neither the U.S. nor the British teams were involved in the planning or execution of the military operation to rescue the hostages. The Israelis are experts at hostage rescue and require little support in tactical planning. But U.S. and Israeli officials say outside intelligence does provide added value.
