That team, composed of special operations and intelligence personnel working out of the embassy in Jerusalem, has been in Israel since the war began in October. Since then, it has shared with Israeli counterparts information about hostages’ potential location gleaned from U.S. drone surveillance over Gaza, communications intercepts and other sources, said the people familiar with the matter.
“The United States is supporting all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, including American citizens,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. He noted this work includes ongoing negotiations and “other means.”
Axios and the New York Times also reported on U.S. involvement in the rescue operation.
Hamas and other militants took approximately 250 hostages amid their brazen cross-border assault into Israel on Oct. 7, a gruesome attack that left 1,200 dead. At least 112 people have been freed, either as part of a negotiated deal between Israel and Hamas late last year or through coordinated rescue operations.
Of the hostages who remain in Gaza, fewer than 80 are believed to be alive. Eight American citizens are thought to be among those still in captivity, including the remains of three who are dead.
Saturday’s daytime mission was part of a broader Israeli operation in central Gaza that local health authorities said left at least 210 Palestinians dead. Israeli officials described the rescue operation as weeks in the making and enabled by “precise intelligence.” Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said two buildings were targeted and that the personnel involved took fire.
Washington maintains what one U.S. official characterized Saturday as a “very deep partnership” with Israel on its hostage-rescue efforts.
Days after the Gaza war began, the Pentagon acknowledged that a “small number” of U.S. military personnel were at the embassy in Jerusalem to assist the Israeli government through planning and intelligence support.
U.S. intelligence analysts also are helping Israeli officials in some of their work to map out the extensive network of tunnels that Hamas has built beneath Gaza, contributing powerful analytic technologies that fuse fragments of information, according to officials with knowledge of that work.
U.S. defense officials have said that while American military personnel have been advising the Israelis, they have not accompanied Israel’s military on any missions in the Gaza Strip. President Biden has been adamant that he will not put American “boots on the ground” there.
Shane Harris contributed to this report.
