A 2022 photo of an MQ-9 Reaper drone at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Catania, Italy, a hub for surveillance operations in the Mediterranean region. Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images
Pentagon flying unarmed drones over Gaza to help recover hostages, officials say
Flights are part of U.S. ‘advice and assistance’ in the effort, spokesman says.
The U.S. military has confirmed that it’s flying drones over the Gaza Strip to help Israel free hostages from Hamas.
“In support of hostage recovery efforts, the U.S. is conducting unarmed [unmanned aerial vehicle] flights over Gaza, as well as providing advice and assistance to support our Israeli partner as they work on their hostage recovery efforts. These UAV flights began after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Public flight-tracking websites indicate that the drones are MQ-9 Reapers operated by U.S. special operations forces, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Hamas captured more than 200 civilians, some of them U.S. citizens, during and after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday evening that Israel should pause its counteroffensive to get the hostages out of Gaza.
But the administration doesn’t think a “general ceasefire” is the right move, John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told reporters Wednesday.
“We continue to support the idea of temporary pauses in the fighting so that aid can get in, people can get out, we can get our hostages out,” he said. “There are many factors and many players in being able to put pauses in place, and we’re working at that very, very hard.”