US surveillance drones are flying over Gaza in a search for intelligence on the location of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported on Thursday.

According to US officials quoted by the report, the drones were launched over a week ago.

The drones are MQ-9 Reapers operated by US special forces and were first seen on Saturday on Flightradar24, a publicly accessible flight tracking website, although Pentagon officials said the planes were active in the area a few days after October 7.

US defense officials told the New York Times that this is the first time that American drones have participated in missions over Gaza.

The unarmed surveillance flights do not assist Israeli military operations in the field, according to sources at the Defense Ministry. Two officials said the goal is to help locate hostages, monitor signs of life and transfer relevant information to the IDF.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)