The New York Times, one of the leading newspapers in the USA, based on unnamed US officials, stated that senior executives of Hamas, who are thought to be in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been carrying out its attacks since October 7, by the US foreign intelligence agency CIA, and It was stated that a new “task force” was established to determine the locations of hostages held in Gaza and the information collected was shared with Israel. According to the news, the instruction to establish the new task force was given by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan after the October 7 attacks. It was stated that Sullivan instructed intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Defense to establish a special task force and increase intelligence activities against Hamas leaders. Thereupon, it was reported that the US Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI) raised Hamas from level 4 in its “priority list” to level 2, which is a more urgent level.
“IF THEY CAPTURE IT, THEY WILL ACHIEVE A GREAT VICTORY”
“Although none of Hamas’s top leaders were captured or killed in Gaza, it is not clear how valuable this information is to Israel,” the report said. The United States does not provide Israel with intelligence on low- or mid-level Hamas members. Israel estimated that Hamas had 20-25 thousand members before October 7. Israel had told US officials that they believed they had killed one-third of this force by the end of 2023. But eliminating Hamas’s strategic military leadership is another matter. Israel will have achieved a great victory if it kills or captures Yahya Sinwar, who is thought to be the architect of the October 7 attack, or Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades). “Such an operational success will likely put greater Israeli public pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the military operation in Gaza.” The report also stated that US officials believe Sinwar is hiding in the deepest part of the tunnel network under the city of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. However, it was emphasized that there were hostages around Sinwar, and this situation was believed to greatly complicate a military operation to capture or kill him.
“USA DID NOT INFORM ISRAEL”
The news also stated that the USA did not provide Israel with information about Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Chief Salih al-Aruri, who was killed in an air strike in Beirut on January 2. It was emphasized that the attack was carried out with the information Israel collected about Aruri’s location.
“The US is pushing Israel to reorganize its military campaign to focus on senior Hamas figures.”
The news said, “The United States is pushing Israel to reorganize its military operations in Gaza to focus on killing or capturing senior leaders rather than large-scale attacks that result in the death of many civilians.” According to US officials, the Washington administration based most of its intelligence on Hamas on Israel before October 7, but the attack on October 7 showed that Israel had significant weaknesses in its intelligence on Hamas.
Source: UAV