AMERICAN SPECIAL FORCES ON STANDBY

US Sends Hostage Rescue Experts to Israel and Puts Special Ops  ‘Door Kickers’ on Alert (Exclusive)

The US troops on standby in a nearby country could include members of Delta Force or SEAL Team Six

 

By James LaPorta

 

The Messenger 

Oct 10, 2023

 

   Delta Force soldiers in a training exercise

 

The U.S. has sent hostage rescue experts to advise the Israel Defense Forces on freeing the 150 hostages — including possibly some Americans — who were kidnapped by Hamas during the bloody attack on southern Israel, The Messenger has learned. 

Meanwhile, U.S. special operations forces have been placed on alert in a nearby European country, according to two senior U.S. military officials who spoke to The Messenger under condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters. 

Sources described these troops as “door kickers,” who could conduct a rescue effort themselves, if ordered.

For the moment, there is no indication that U.S. forces will aid in any operations on the ground in Israel, the sources said.

But, the Americans are only a few hours away by plane if they need to intervene. 

The U.S. sent advisors from the U.S. intelligence community to augment an American special operations team assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Israel, the sources told The Messenger.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Tuesday the U.S. has "people on the ground" who will assist Israeli authorities "with intelligence and planning" for potential operations involving hostage rescue efforts.

Austin, who traveled to Brussels with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Brown to meet with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, said the Pentagon has a "liaison cell" in Israel working with Israeli special operations forces. Austin also said the U.S. has the ability to "rapidly deploy other resources into the region."

The White House has said 11 Americans were killed in Israel, and several remain missing.

Officials have not confirmed Americans are among the hostages, but on Tuesday, family members of four Americans came forward to say they believed their loved ones were abducted to the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.

Hamas on Monday threatened to begin executing hostages in retaliation for Israel's retaliatory airstrikes on the Gaza Strip

The additional assistance to Israel is a part of an influx of support from the U.S. in the wake of a surprise attack by Hamas fighters over the weekend that killed more than 1,000 Israelis. 

U.S. defense officials described the assault, which included gunmen targeting civilians and kidnapping elderly women and small children, as “ISIS level savagery.” 

While the officials would not say what kind of special operation forces were placed on alert, they indicated that the military unit fell under the Joint Special Operations Command.

The two main counterterrorism units under the Joint Special Operations Command that have historically undertaken hostage rescue missions globally are the Army’s Delta Force, known officially as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, and the Navy’s SEAL Team Six (Naval Special Warfare Development Group).

Since the attack, the U.S. has begun work to deliver munitions and air defenses to Israel.

The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and five guided-missile cruisers and destroyers arrived off the coast of Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, sources told The Messenger.

U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement Tuesday afternoon the arrival of the Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

"The arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation," said Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, who oversees U.S. Central Command.

Defense Secretary Austin said in a statement on Sunday the carrier group would be augmented with U.S. Air Force warplanes “to bolster regional deterrence efforts.” 

Defense officials said the deployment of the Ford carrier strike group to the region stands to deter any country or militant group such as Iran or Hezbollah from exploiting the conflict. 

A senior Defense official on Monday said the strike group can conduct “a full spectrum of missions, from intelligence collection, maritime dominance, to long-range strike, will ensure the United States is postured to respond to any contingencies and minimize the risk of a wider spread conflict that would threaten stability.” 

The Pentagon said it was in contact with the U.S. defense industry to expedite pending Israeli orders for military equipment to the region while also assessing what munitions could be provided to Israel from the U.S. inventory. 

“These posture increases were intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deed and not only in words of U.S. support for Israel's defense and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate conflict. Those adversaries should think twice,” the senior Defense official said Monday.