• Delta Force and SEAL Team Six have been put on standby in a European country near Israel, The Messenger reported on Tuesday
  • U.S. hostage negotiators are already in Israel and working alongside their Israeli counterparts, the Pentagon confirmed: 20 Americans are missing
  • Israel has called up an unprecedented 300,000-plus reservists, and JFK airport in New York City saw crowds waiting to board flights to Tel Aviv

The United States is readying its special forces to help Israel locate American hostages, as waves of Israeli Defense Force reservists arrived at JFK airport in New York to join the fight against Hamas.

Two senior U.S. military officials told The Messenger that ‘door kickers’ have been put on standby in a nearby European country, ready to assist Israel if necessary in their battle against Hamas. The Israeli death toll rose to 1,200 on Tuesday.

The military sources told the website that there was currently no indication the U.S. special forces would be sent to Israel, but they were only a few hours away by plane if need be. 

The military officials would not confirm which units were being readied, but said they fell under the Joint Special Operations Command.

The two main counterterrorism units under the Joint Special Operations Command are the Army’s Delta Force, and the Navy’s SEAL Team Six – which was dispatched to kill Osama bin Laden.

Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary, said on Tuesday that the U.S. had also sent hostage negotiators to help the Israeli specialists.

Twenty Americans remain missing in Israel following the weekend’s Hamas attack, including some whose relatives say they have been taken hostage.

Austin said the U.S. has ‘people on the ground’ who will assist Israeli authorities ‘with intelligence and planning’ for potential operations involving hostage rescue efforts.

The U.S. hostage negotiators will work alongside a team already in place, working out of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, The Messenger reported.

Austin said the Pentagon has a ‘liaison cell’ in Israel working with Israeli special operations forces.

Austin also said the U.S. has the ability to ‘rapidly deploy other resources into the region.’

President Joe Biden has dispatched the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and five guided-missile cruisers and destroyers to the scene, and they arrived on Tuesday.

‘The arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation,’ said Gen. Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, who oversees U.S. Central Command.

On Sunday, Austin said that the warships would carry U.S. Air Force warplanes ‘to bolster regional deterrence efforts’ – an effort to dissuade Iran or Hezbollah from taking advantage of the conflict and joining in.

On Monday, a senior defense official said the strike group can conduct ‘a full spectrum of missions, from intelligence collection, maritime dominance, to long-range strike, will ensure the United States is postured to respond to any contingencies and minimize the risk of a wider spread conflict that would threaten stability.’

The Pentagon is looking at supplying Israel with more arms, and liaising with defense contractors to ramp up their production.

‘These posture increases were intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deed and not only in words of U.S. support for Israel’s defense and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate conflict,’ the official said.

‘Those adversaries should think twice.’

In New York City on Monday, crowds of IDF reservists were gathering to board planes back to Israel to join the fight.

The country has called up an unprecedented 300,000-plus reservists for what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a ‘massive attack’ on the terror group Hamas.

Some reservists danced and sang as they prepared to board their flight out of JFK.

Delta Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines have all suspended flights to Israel amid travel advisories from the State Department, but El Al is continuing to fly. Ticket prices have soared, but charities are funding the tickets for many wanting to return and assist, The Times of Israel reported.

Noam, an Israeli man who lives in New York and served in the special forces of the IDF, told the paper he was told on Monday morning he was being called up for reserve duty.

By 1pm, he was at the airport, checking in for a 4pm flight.

‘They’re already been called up together so I’m just waiting to join them,’ he told the paper.

Another man had flown in to JFK from his home in Kansas that morning.

‘They just told us to get here, and they would take care of it,’ he said. ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we are here.’