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Reports: US Special Forces Assisting Israel In Gaza Conflict

Above photo: US Special Forces. US Army.

US officials confirmed US special forces are seeking to rescue US citizens held captive by Hamas.

Palestinian sources report their involvement in Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza as well.

The US has sent special forces to Israel to assist in finding hundreds of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas, a senior Pentagon official reportedly said on 31 October.

“We’re actively helping the Israelis to do a number of things,” Christopher Maier, an assistant secretary of defense, said at a special operations conference in Washington, The New York Times reported.

Hamas captured some 245 people during its surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October in which some 1,400 people were killed. Many of those held captive are civilians, and several hold US citizenship.

Hamas has released four captives so far, including two US-Israeli citizens.

Maier, who is the Pentagon’s senior special operations policy official, told the conference a key objective for the US personnel is to “identify hostages, including American hostages.”

Maier said the US commandos have not been given any combat roles but were discussing with Israeli forces the situation in Gaza for “what is going to be a very complex fight going forward.”

However, it is unclear if US Special Forces activity will be limited to assisting in hostage rescues.

Former Pentagon Advisor, Douglas MacGregor stated on 26 October that a US Special Force accompanied by an Israeli Special Force had entered the Gaza Strip to carry out reconnaissance and assess potential ways for freeing the hostages, but they were attacked and suffered severe casualties.

On 27 October, Israel quietly began its ground invasion of Gaza, cutting off communication in the strip and sending ground troops in.

On 31 October, New Press reported that according to its sources, Hamas fighters prepared an ambush and killed US and Israeli forces east of Beit Hanoun in Gaza.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh reported that Hamas fighters let the soldiers enter a building in large numbers and then blew it up.

US military officials are working closely with Israel to coordinate the ongoing ground invasion.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin has been holding near daily discussions with Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

British Special Forces may also be playing a role in assisting Israel in Gaza.

The UK government has issued notices to the media to suppress reports of the operations of the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gaza.

On 28 October, the Socialist Worker, the newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party, revealed it had been sent a “D Notice” from the Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee requesting it not publish information relating to the operations of the SAS.

D Notices are used by the British state to veto the publication of news damaging to its interests.

The e-mail to the media was from the DSMA secretary, Brigadier Geoffrey Dodds, stating, “Reports have started to appear in some publications claiming that UK Special Forces have deployed to sensitive areas of the Middle East and then linking that deployment to hostage rescue/evacuation operations.”

British Special Forces troops are currently in Cyprus on standby for developments in Gaza and the wider region.

The Sun newspaper said the soldiers are “braced to free UK citizens trapped in the bloodbath” in Gaza as the crisis in the region continues. They added that around 200 British nationals are trapped in Gaza.

They say the troops’ primary focus “is the Gaza strip, but officials fear the war could spread, trapping more Brits in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula and Lebanon.”

Canadian special forces (CAF) members are also in Israel helping Canada’s embassy there with “contingency planning,” a Department of National Defence spokesperson confirmed to CBC News.

In a statement earlier in the week, Defence Minister Bill Blair said 300 CAF members are now in the region, with a task force headquartered in Cyprus.

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