US sends hostage team to aid rescue of Americans, Israelis in Gaza, puts special ops teams on alert: report

The United States is reportedly preparing special forces to assist Israel in locating Americans taken hostage by Hamas, and has sent hostage experts to advise the Israel Defense Forces.

Two senior US military officials told The Messenger that US special operations forces have been placed on alert in a nearby European country, with the troops being described as "door kickers" who could, if ordered, conduct a rescue effort.

There's indicattions, however, that these special forces may not be used.

The US has also sent US intelligence community advisors to Israel to assist an American special operations team assigned to the US Embassy in Israel.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the US has "people on the ground" to assist Israeli authorities "with intelligence and planning" for potential hostage recovery operations, and said that the Pentagon has a "liasion cell" in Israel working with the country’s special operations forces, and that the US has the ability to "rapidly deploy other resources into the region."

The officials did not say what kind of special operation forces were placed on alert, but indicated that the unit fell under the Joint Special Operations Command, under which the two main counterterrorism units that have historically undertaken hostage rescue missions are the Army’s Delta Force and the Navy’s SEAL Team Six.

During a speech on Tuesday afternoon, Joe Biden revealed that 14 Americans have been killed in Israel, and that Americans were among those taken hostage.

In a statement on Tuesday, US Central Command confirmed that the USS Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group had arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean "in order to deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen this war."

The forces in the area include the aircraft carrier, 8 squadrons of attack and support aircraft, the Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt.

A senior Defense official said that the strike group can conduct "a full spectrum of missions, from intelligence collection, maritime dominance, to long-range strike, will ensure the United States is postured to respond to any contingencies and minimize the risk of a wider spread conflict that would threaten stability," The Messenger reported.

This comes as Hamas invaded Israel at daybreak on Saturday, entering the country by land, sea, and air and killing around 1,000 people. Hostages were taken, with Hamas declaring that they would kill one hostage for every air strike Israel launches into Gaza.