WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has begun surging air defense munitions and other equipment to Israel’s military as special operators from its elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) remain poised to assist with intelligence and planning for potential hostage rescue operations by the IDF in Gaza, American officials said Monday.
Word of the additional support came a day after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group in the Mediterranean Sea had been ordered to head towards Israel following Hamas’ unprecedented incursion into the country’s south.
The rampage by Hamas which began Saturday has left more than 900 Israelis dead – most of them civilians – and saw at least 100 Israeli hostages captured and forcibly brought back to Gaza.
Israel has declared war and vowed to depose the Islamist group from power in the Palestinian enclave, a campaign that Israeli officials have suggested could involve a protracted ground invasion of the densely populated territory.
