The Biden administration has ruled out sending troops into Gaza in an effort to rescue the hostages held there.
A senior White House official made the announcement, although it is possible that the decision will be reversed.
Three unnamed U.S. officials who were not authorised to discuss internal talks publicly said it had been decided that the current scenario was extremely complicated and would provide difficulties for the leaders of the United States and Israel in dealing with the hostage crisis.
The officials claimed that the United States is unaware of the current location of the hostages. Officials believe that American and Israeli hostages would be spread out and likely not held together, housed in separate underground areas and with innocent civilians in an effort to make any rescue operation that much more difficult. Gaza is notoriously dense, with a warren of tunnels. The astonishing success of Hamas’s sneak attacks over the weekend has led U.S. officials to conclude that Israeli intelligence in the region has declined, and credible reports have been few.
According to U.S. officials, the issue is further complicated by the fact that Hamas is made up of several subgroups and militias that all operate throughout Gaza. Identifying which of these Hamas factions might be holding hostages is a necessary first step for the United States to formulate a plan to rescue them.
Since Israeli special forces have more expertise in Gaza, the United States is currently following their lead. The United States has sent a team of military experts to the region to discuss next steps with their Israeli counterparts. The United States’ Central Command and Special Operations Command have extended an offer to assist the Israelis in planning for a hostage rescue and providing intelligence.
And Thursday on MSNBC, principal deputy national security advisor Jon Finer stated, “We are not contemplating U.S. boots on the ground for any sort of rescue mission.”
“This is one of the most difficult aspects of what will be a very difficult operational environment for Israeli forces,” Finer said. It’s hard to battle here, but you can hide out easily. Finding these individuals is a challenge of intelligence. How do you negotiate their release or try to remove them operationally if you do locate them?
The Biden administration has called for a series of agency-wide meetings to discuss the hostages, who are in grave danger and might pose a political dilemma for the president if they are not rescued soon.
According to the officials, the United States currently has no idea how many Americans are being held captive by the terrorist organisation Hamas. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at a Thursday White House press conference that 14 Americans are still missing after the strikes over the weekend, but that many are thought to be dead or may eventually come up safe. Kirby also affirmed the current death toll from the attacks in the United States is at 27.
Thursday in Tel Aviv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he believes that a “handful” of Americans are now being held by Hamas.
FBI and Pentagon troops are on the ground in Israel providing support to Israeli special operators in their efforts to retrieve hostages in Gaza. The United States’ secondary status was made apparent by administration officials.
Israel “has made it very clear that it does not want foreign troops on its soil, that it wants to prosecute these operations on its own and that it has every right to want to do so,” Kirby added. “It goes without saying that our relationship with Israel is excellent in terms of sharing information and intelligence. We’re making efforts to fix it.
U.S. officials from the State Department, National Security Council, and FBI are working together to compile information regarding the missing and dead Americans in Israel. Information from friends and family members who contacted the embassy about missing loved ones has been included to the investigation being conducted by the FBI.
The White House, the FBI, and the U.S. Embassy in Israel are all fielding calls from concerned friends and family members of missing Americans. Some of these reports have been based on phone calls from persons who actually saw Hamas abduct someone. Verifying hearsay has proven a challenge, however.
In order to facilitate negotiations with Hamas, Qatar and Turkey have offered to act as intermediaries. U.S. special troops are currently stationed in Israel after being dispatched to the region, but they will not participate in a rescue operation, according to officials.
Vice President Joe Biden, for his part, has stated repeatedly that he will not rest until every missing American is safely returned home.
We’d like to be totally clear on this. Biden told American Jewish groups this week at the White House that the United States was working on “every aspect” of the hostage crisis in Israel. We have a lot going on, and we’re doing a lot. I still believe we can get these people back to their homes.
