Five Soldiers Deployed to the Middle East for Rescue Operations Killed While Training

A group of special operations soldiers died during training operations off the coast of Cyprus when their helicopter crashed on Saturday. The New York Times reports unnamed US officials say the White House has sent several teams of special operators to the region in the wake of increased tensions caused by the brutal Israeli military operations in Gaza. 

The Times reported on Sunday, “The Pentagon has quietly dispatched to Cyprus commando teams from the Joint Special Operations Command, including the Army’s Delta Force and the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, to stand by in case they are needed to help evacuate American citizens from the region.”

The outlet noted that the soldiers were training in hostage rescue operations. Some Americans remain held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Tel Aviv has been mainly unwilling to temporarily pause its military operations in Gaza to facilitate the release of hostages. Hamas says some captives have been killed in Israeli strikes. 

The troops that were killed were aboard an MH-60 helicopter that was on a refueling training mission. American officials speaking with the Times described the soldiers as “among the aviators assigned to ferry the commandos on such clandestine [hostage rescue] missions.”

Washington has engaged in a massive military buildup in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in anticipation of widespread violence across the Middle East targeting Americans in reaction to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza.