The United States is conducting unarmed drone flights over Gaza to support efforts to locate and release Hamas hostages kidnapped during the bloody Oct. 7 attack in Israel, the Pentagon said Friday.
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“In support of efforts to release hostages, the United States is conducting unarmed drone flights over Gaza and providing advice and assistance to our Israeli partner,” Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder said in a statement.
“These drone flights began after the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7,” he said.
According to Israeli authorities, at least 240 hostages, Israelis, dual nationals and foreigners, are still in the hands of Hamas.
They were kidnapped on October 7 when commandos from the Palestinian Islamist movement entered southern Israel from the Gaza Strip in the deadliest attack since Israel’s founding in 1948.
According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in this attack.
Since the attack, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip relentlessly. Israeli attacks on the area killed 9,227 people, including 3,826 children, according to a report released by Hamas on Friday.
The latter announced on Wednesday that seven hostages had been killed in an Israeli bomb attack. He estimated on October 26 that “nearly 50” hostages had been killed in Israeli raids.