The United States and Israel will both pause drone flights over Gaza for six hours each day as part of the deal to secure the release of 50 women and children hostages from Gaza, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CNN.
The US military currently flies surveillance drones over Gaza to support Israel in its efforts to find the hostages. US officials have previously said that the American intelligence being gathered is not used for lethal operations. While the pause in Israeli drone flights had been previously reported, Finer’s comments are the first official confirmation that the US will also be taking part in the pause. CNN was first to report earlier last week that Hamas demanded that Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of any hostage deal. CNN also reported yesterday that a six-hour pause in drone surveillance was in the deal agreed to between Israel and Hamas. |
A defense official confirmed the pause and said the US “will adjust our activities in support of hostage recovery efforts in light of the operational pause agreed to by Israel and Hamas.”
Finer also leaned into the expectation that three Americans could be included in the 50 hostages that are expected to be released as part of the deal, but cautioned that “until we actually see people coming out of Gaza we will not know exactly who is going to be released.” Looking forward, Finer said that this is “not the end of the war” and that the US will remain “intensively” engaged as he pledged they will not rest until they can secure the release of the other Americans being held hostage. CNN's MJ Lee and Natasha Bertrand contributed to reporting in this post. |