U.S. Department of Defense officials confirmed Friday that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) have been flying over Gaza in a search for hostages taken by the Hamas terrorist organization.
According to USA today, “use of the drones indicates a deeper involvement by the US military in the conflict than previously acknowledged.”
Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian group launched a surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,400 and injured others. Apart from murdering and injuring civilians, Hamas took 240 “people of multiple nationalities, including Americans,” hostage, per Audacy station 1010 WINS. Hamas had released four of the hostages and the Israeli Defense Forces had rescued another as of Thursday.
“According to Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk, the group considers captives who are citizens of both Israel and another country to be Israeli and will not release them until Israel agrees to a ceasefire,” Al Jazeera reported.
U.S. drone surveillance for hostages began the day of the terror attacks, said Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, according to CNN.
“In support of hostage recovery efforts, the U.S. is conducting unarmed UAV flights over Gaza, as well as providing advice and assistance to support our Israeli partner as they work on their hostage recovery efforts,” he said.
Since the war began, 9,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to United Nations estimates. In a Friday statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a “humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate release of all hostages.”
He has also criticized a strike on a hospital in Gaza.
“I am horrified by the reported attack in Gaza on an ambulance convoy outside Al Shifa Hospital. The images of bodies strewn on the street outside the hospital are harrowing,” said Guterres.
Other groups – such as Jewish Voice for Peace in the U.S. – have also called for a ceasefire in the region, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the Middle East this week in an effort to prevent conflict from spreading.
“In Israel, Secretary Blinken will reiterate U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism consistent with international humanitarian law and discuss efforts to safeguard U.S. citizens in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, work to secure the immediate release of hostages, increase the pace and volume of humanitarian assistance entering Gaza for distribution to Palestinian civilians, and prevent the conflict from spreading,” said a statement issued Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Ryder said that the Department of Defense has daily conversations with the Israeli military on the “importance of protecting innocent lives and taking Palestinians and others into account,” as they battle Hamas.
“Hamas has said repeatedly that they will continue to do these type of Oct. 7 attacks until Israel is eliminated,” Ryder said. “There’s no question of the complexity of the challenge that is confronting the Israeli forces as they conduct operations in this urban environment. [But] we also expect Israel to take into account the law of war as they plan and conduct their operations. And we want them to distinguish between terrorists and civilians. And so we’ll continue to have those conversations.”
In addition to traveling to Israel, Blinken planned to visit Jordan and Türkiye this month. There, he was expected to “underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives in Israel and the Gaza Strip and our shared commitment to facilitating the increased, sustained delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the resumption of essential services, and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza,” as well as “urgent mechanisms to stem violence, calm rhetoric, reduce regional tensions, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East, to include the establishment of a Palestinian state.”