According to the report, the directive to create the new task force was sent out by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in the wake of the attack in which some 3,000 Hamas terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians and taking another 240 hostages. Several US citizens were among the dead and captured.
The Office of the US Director of National Intelligence has also bumped up Hamas on its list of priorities from a low level four status before October 7 to a more urgent level two. Level one is reserved for major American foes like Iran, North Korea, Russia and China.
According to the report, the US has already started transferring information to Israel on the location of senior leaders. However, it is not clear how effective this has been; none of the major leaders in Gaza has yet been killed or captured.
The report noted that the US did not give Israel information leading to the killing of deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri. Arouri was killed in a drone strike in Beirut on January 2 in an attack widely attributed to Israel, although Jerusalem has not confirmed it. READ MORE