The CIA has been providing Israel information on senior Hamas leaders and the location of the remaining hostages the terrorist organization has kidnapped in Gaza, according to a Friday report by The New York Times citing US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US hasn’t provided Israel with intel on “low or midlevel Hamas operatives,” the report said. Additionally, the report cites some of the US officials’ belief that targeting low-level Hamas members is “misguided” because “they can be easily replaced and because of the unwarranted risk to civilians.” They have also said that Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza could end up creating more Hamas terrorists.
The US spy agency oversaw a new task force assembled whose purpose is to gather intelligence on the missing hostages’ whereabouts and has already uncovered information on Hamas’s top leaders. The task force’s creation was ordered by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan immediately after the Hamas massacre on October 7 by sending a memo to the intelligence agencies and Defense Department, according to the report.
One of the task force’s priorities is to collect information on the hostages’ physical and mental conditions. CIA Director William J. Burns has been working with Mossad head David Barnea for the release of the rest of the remaining of the hostages.
An N12 report on Friday night states that the IDF officially has control of 60% of the entire Gaza Strip.
The IDF has thinned out Hamas in northern Gaza and is moving to carry out raids in certain spots. In addition, the IDF is focusing on increasing military pressure on Khan Yunis, assuming that the loss of control of Hamas will promote negotiations for the release of hostages.
Israeli security officials believe that the return of Gaza residents to the northern Gaza Strip can be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations for the release of hostages, according to N12. In addition, according to the sources, it is necessary to create a governmental alternative to Hamas, but Israel’s cabinet is not decisive on the issue.
Regarding the intel provided by the CIA to Israel, the report does not state that the information provided has been valuable.
Israel believes it has killed a third of Hamas
Israel had told the US they believed that they have killed a third of Hamas’s terrorists since the start of Operation Swords of Iron, Hamas had 20 to 25 thousand fighters before the massacre they committed on October 7.
US officials also believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is hiding in the deepest parts of the terror group’s tunnel network under Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the Times said, but that he is also believed to be surrounded by the Israeli hostages kidnapped and using them as human shields.
The US also had no intelligence regarding Saleh al-Arouri, a deputy Hamas leader who was killed in Beirut earlier this month.
The US has also implemented more drone flights over Gaza and increased efforts to intercept communications between Hamas officials.
The CIA has raised the Palestinian terror group from a level four to a level two priority – implying more resources are being used to collect intel on the group.
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