US flying drones above Gaza in search for hostages

The U.S. military is flying unarmed MQ-9 Reaper drones above Gaza to assist with efforts to locate the more than 240 people taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack, according to a U.S. official.

The acknowledgement comes after reports this past weekend that unmarked aircraft had been detected flying above the Gaza Strip by open-source flight tracking services.

A U.S. official told ABC News that the U.S. military has been flying unarmed MQ-9 Reaper flights over Gaza as part of the hostage recovery efforts, but declined to provide any context about whether the flights are helping in recovery efforts for U.S. hostages only or for all of the hostages taken by Hamas.

An estimated 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7 and U.S. officials have said it is possible that some of the 10 Americans unaccounted for from the events of that day might be among the hostages.

The official would only confirm that the flights began after Oct. 7 and would not provide further details about when they began flying over Gaza.

The Reaper flights above Gaza were first reported by The New York Times.

The drone flights appear to be part of the broader U.S. effort to assist Israel in locating the hostages that includes the presence of U.S. Special Operations Forces providing planning and intelligence support to the Israeli military.

Reaper drones are flown by the U.S. Air Force and are operated remotely from long distances.

Historically, Reaper flights over the Mediterranean area and over North Africa have been flown from the U.S. Naval base in Sigonella, Italy, but Reaper control and flight systems are very portable and can be deployed to areas closer to a target area that can enable the drones to linger longer over targets or search areas.

For operational security reasons, the official would not discuss from where the MQ-9 flights are originating.

Reaper drones are mainly known for their high-resolution video and infrared cameras. They can linger above target areas for extended periods of time, but they also carry a variety of other sensors that can provide signals intelligence involving cellphones and other communications devices.

The large drones can also carry up to eight laser-guided Hellfire missiles that can be used on hostile targets as was done in the U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.