American and Israeli officials have revealed that the United States provided intelligence during the operation to rescue four Israeli hostages in Nusairat, in the Gaza Strip. An American official stated that a team of American hostage recovery officials based in Israel assisted the Israeli army in efforts to rescue the four hostages by providing intelligence and other logistical support, according to the "New York Times."
According to an Israeli official familiar with the situation, intelligence collection and analysis teams from the United States and Britain have been present in Israel throughout the war to assist Israeli intelligence in gathering and analyzing information related to the hostages. Israel provided information collected from drone flights over Gaza, communications interceptions, and other sources regarding the potential location of the hostages.
An Israeli official noted that while Israel has its own intelligence, the U.S. and Britain were able to provide airborne and cyber intelligence that Israel could not gather independently. American officials stated that their intelligence support for Israel focuses on the location of the hostages and information about Hamas’s high command. According to the "New York Times," this is largely because U.S. officials believe that the best way to persuade Israel to end the war is to secure the release of its hostages and to capture or kill senior Hamas leaders.
The Israeli official mentioned that American and British teams did not participate in the planning or execution of the military operations to rescue the hostages. He added that Israeli hostage rescue experts only needed minimal support in tactical planning. Both American and Israeli officials considered that external intelligence provided added value in the hostages' liberation operation.
