Could there be a hostage-rescue plan in the making?

More than 2,000 US Marines have been put on alert as fears grow for the safety of American hostages taken by Hamas from Israel to Gaza. The US 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit which is trained for special operations has been withdrawn from an exercise in Kuwait and ordered to return to their ships only 48 hours after disembarking. The 2,400 Marines are now on board the USS Bataan, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, and USS Carter Hall, a dock landing vessel. Their sudden departure from Kuwait was linked to “emerging events” in Israel and Gaza, although there was no official confirmation the two ships would be joining the US aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford which is already positioned in the eastern Mediterranean. An unknown number of Americans are among the 150 hostages seized by Hamas, although at least 17 people with dual Israeli/American citizenship are still missing. President Biden has announced he is committed to rescuing the hostages. The 26th marine unit whose troops were among the first to deploy to Kabul to help in the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies in August, 2021, is a crisis response force. If the marines were to be used in a hostage-rescue operation in Gaza they would face an almost insurmountable challenge unless there was specific intelligence of where the hostages are being held. It’s likely they are being detained in multiple locations spread throughout Gaza. “This isn’t just like any other hostage situation, this is an active war zone, and so getting granular information that you can act on is going to be that much harder,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told CNN. Pentagon and FBI specialists are already in Israel, assisting with hostage-rescue contingency plans.