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  • 11/3/2023
The United States wants to play a more active role in searching for hostages taken by Hamas after the 7 October terror attack on Israel. The biggest ally of the Jewish nation is using surveillance drones for it. According to two US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the U.S was flying intelligence-gathering drones over Gaza to help with hostage rescue efforts. One of the officers stated that the drone flights had been ongoing for more than a week.

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Transcript
00:00 The United States wants to play a more active role in searching for hostages taken by Hamas
00:08 after the 7 October terror attack on Israel.
00:12 The biggest ally of the Jewish nation is using surveillance drones for it.
00:16 According to two US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the US was flying
00:21 intelligence-gathering drones over Gaza to help with hostage rescue efforts.
00:27 One of the officers stated that the drone flights had been ongoing for more than a week.
00:32 The flights are operating at a critical juncture.
00:34 According to US officials, 10 Americans who remain unaccounted for may be among the more
00:39 than 200 people taken as hostages into Gaza, where they are believed to be held in Hamas's
00:44 extensive tunnel network.
00:47 The aircraft are MQ-9 Reapers operated by US Special Operations Forces and were first
00:53 spotted on Saturday on Flightradar24, a publicly accessible flight tracking website, though
00:59 Pentagon officials said that the aircraft have been active in the area since the days
01:03 after the October 7 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas.
01:07 The MQ-9 was designed to be the United States Air Force's first hunter-killer drone, but
01:12 it is now largely employed for surveillance missions because of its powerful sensors and
01:17 capacity to hover above an area for more than 20 hours at a time.
01:21 While Israel frequently conducts reconnaissance flights over Gaza, US defense officials said
01:26 it was believed to be the first time that US drones have flown missions over Gaza.
01:32 The development comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to visit Israel and
01:37 meet with Israeli leaders for the second time since the war began.
01:41 Before leaving, Blinken stated that one of the main goals of his mission was to secure
01:45 the release of all hostages in Gaza.
01:48 Israeli forces on Thursday encircled Gaza City, the enclave's main city, in their assault
01:52 on Hamas, which resisted with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels.
01:57 The city in the north of Gaza has become the focus of attack for Israel, which has vowed
02:01 to annihilate the Islamist group's command structure and has told civilians to flee to
02:06 the south.
02:08 Israel has vowed to avenge the 7 October attack, which killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians,
02:12 according to Israeli officials, in the deadliest day of the nation's 75-year history.
02:19 Israel's retaliation bombardment and ground offensive of the small Palestinian enclave
02:23 of 2.3 million has killed at least 9,061 people, according to Gaza's health authorities.
02:28 For more on Israel and its region visit our website at WWW.TV7ISRAELNEWS.COM
02:56 to One India channel and never miss an update.
02:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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