Washington formed a team that includes experts and investigators to recover Americans detained by Hamas (The White House)

Washington -

After the New York Post published new details about Aaron Bushnell, who burned himself in front of the Israeli embassy in solidarity with Gaza, it emerged, among them, what he said to a close friend of his, that “the American army is involved in the ongoing genocidal operations in Palestine,” and that “American forces are on "The land is killing large numbers of Palestinians."

The opinions of American experts that Al Jazeera Net spoke to varied in this regard.

Some commentators expressed their lack of knowledge of the presence of American soldiers operating inside the Gaza Strip, while others suggested the presence of American forces carrying out non-combat missions.

Others expressed a third opinion stating the possibility of the presence of American forces participating in attempts to liberate its citizens who have been detained by Hamas since the seventh of last October.

It is noteworthy that the United States maintained at least one military base in Israel before the events of October 7.

The secret base, known by the code name “Site 512,” is believed to house a THAAD radar surveillance system that can detect and track ballistic missile threats against the United States.

 Inside Gaza

The White House has often emphasized that it will not deploy US troops on the ground in Gaza.

But a report published by the New York Times confirmed that the Joe Biden administration sent members of US Special Operations Forces to Israel following the Hamas attack, with the aim of “locating hostages, including American hostages.”

The report indicated that the special forces were present to help develop a strategy for the Israeli forces, and were not assigned any combat roles.

Reports indicate that 39 Americans with Israeli citizenship were killed, and 11 others were held captive by Hamas.

At the same time, Israeli sources indicate that Hamas still holds 6 American citizens among its prisoners today, in addition to the bodies of two Americans who were killed during the Israeli attacks.

Jack Murphy, a former US Special Forces officer, wrote on his website, “The Joint Special Operations Command has already planned a rescue operation for Hamas hostages and prisoners.”

Murphy adds, "But since the arrival of those forces in the eastern Mediterranean, the chances of launching a hostage rescue mission have diminished, based on the nature of the available intelligence information and the changing priorities of the Israeli and American governments. Meanwhile, no American military personnel are known to have entered Gaza."

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, defense affairs expert Michael Beck said, “Bushnell’s claim is unlikely. If American forces had been sent to fight in the Gaza tunnels, they could have been killed or captured, which would have created a political storm within the United States. But it is possible that The presence of American soldiers in Gaza to monitor Israeli operations.”

The expert added, “Israel already has thousands of soldiers in Gaza, including special forces units trained in tunnel warfare, so why do they need American forces?”

During his supportive visit to Israel days after the October 7 attack, the White House published a photo of President Joe Biden surrounded by a number of US special forces personnel in Israel.

The White House was immediately rebuked for publishing these sensitive photos, and a number of Republicans attacked Biden for what they saw as his exploitation of this photo for political gain, while putting their lives and the lives of their families at risk if their secret identities were revealed.

The White House deleted the photo shortly after it was shared on social media, and expressed its regret for this error while stressing that the president’s visit to Israel was aimed at appreciating the courage of American forces and the role they are playing in response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks,” he said.

The White House publishes a photo of President Joe Biden surrounded by members of US Special Forces in Israel (Associated Press)

Identifying detainees

As soon as the Biden administration confirmed that a number of dual citizens (American-Israeli) were among those detained by the Hamas movement, Washington formed a team of experts and investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, and other specialists in recovering detainees.

John Finner, Deputy National Security Advisor, said in a television interview, “What I can say is at this stage that we are not considering deploying American forces on the ground to participate in that mission.”

What we did was send experts from all relevant parts of our government to the region to consult and advise their Israeli counterparts to ensure that they find the best way to return these people to their homes.

Christopher Meyer, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, confirmed the presence of US forces inside Israel, but he refused to specify the number of US Special Operations Forces soldiers currently in Israel, during his participation in a conference in Washington a few weeks ago.

Mayer said, "We are helping the Israelis do a number of things, the most important of which is identifying the hostages, including the American hostages," and stressed that this is a "duty that must be done."

secret information

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Joseph Vitsanakis, professor of intelligence and security studies at Coastal Carolina University, pointed out that “members of the US armed forces obtain security clearances that allow them to access confidential information related to their field of work, as a minimum.”

“Since Bushnell was already working on the intelligence side of the US Air Force, he likely had a top-secret security clearance, which would have given him access to some highly classified information about a variety of current events, including the war in Gaza.”

It is worth noting that Bushnell served in the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing of the US Air Force, where he worked as an “Innovation Services Technician,” which allowed him to access a lot of military information and secrets.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Vitsanakis said that he would be "totally surprised if American forces were not present on the ground in the Gaza Strip. There are many American citizens among the hostages held by Hamas, so one would expect that American forces are on the ground, and are currently trying to rescue them, and from “It is certain that this is being done in coordination with the Israeli army forces.”

The US Army includes special forces called the 1st (also known as Delta Force), which specialize in direct "hostage" rescue.

At a minimum, “I expect Delta Force to be active in the Gaza Strip, at this time as we speak. There are likely other elements of the US military there as well, and I imagine they are likely special forces or units specialized in urban warfare,” Vitsanakis adds. .

Professor Vitsanakis pointed out to Al Jazeera Net that “the role of the American forces is not to assist the Israeli army in its war against Hamas, or (to be involved in the ongoing genocidal operations in Palestine), as Bushnell mentioned to his friend, according to the New York Post. Instead, their role is to determine The location of American citizens detained by Hamas and their liberation,” he said.

Source: Al Jazeera