Pentagon Debunks Israel Hostage Rescue Claims

The Pentagon clarified that Israel did not stage part of its hostage rescue operations on the U.S. military's floating pier off Gaza. Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder emphasized the purely humanitarian use of the pier, countering false social media perceptions. Recent operations brought aid to Palestinians amid ongoing conflict.

The Pentagon on Monday sought to dispel what it said were false perceptions on social media that Israel staged part of its hostage rescue operations on the U.S. military's floating pier off Gaza, saying that was not true and no U.S. personnel were involved. Still, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder acknowledged there were Israeli helicopter operations "near" the pier, which was announced by U.S. President Joe Biden as a way to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

"It was near but I think it's incidental. Again, the pier, the equipment, the personnel all supporting that humanitarian effort had nothing to do with the IDF rescue operation," Ryder said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. In a raid in Gaza on Saturday, Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October. In Saturday's operation 274 Palestinians were killed, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Ryder said the U.S. military was trying to "push back on some of the inaccurate social media allegations" circulating about the pier. "The humanitarian pier facility, including its equipment, personnel and assets, were not used in the IDF's operation to rescue hostages in Gaza. And any such claim to the contrary is false."

The U.S. military's pier operations resumed briefly on Saturday after nearly two weeks offline but have been halted against since Sunday due to bad weather. On Saturday, 492 metric tons of aid were delivered from the pier, the U.S. military's Central Command said. The Israel-Hamas war has now entered its ninth month, since Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage in a rampage through southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to wasteland, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Any perception that the pier could be used by Israel militarily could undermine U.S. efforts to increase the flow of aid to Palestinians and potentially increase the threat to U.S. troops. Ryder acknowledged misinformation and disinformation about what U.S. troops were doing in the Middle East. But he dismissed the idea that the current misperceptions that the pier was used by Israel increased the threat to U.S. forces, who have air defenses installed to shield them from possible rocket attack.

"No, I don't think it puts our forces at greater risk," he said, without explaining how he came to that conclusion.