Initial US Intelligence Shows Hamas Attack Surprised Iranian Leaders

Israeli troops search the scene of a rocket attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
Israeli troops search the scene of a rocket attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Initial US Intelligence Shows Hamas Attack Surprised Iranian Leaders

Israeli troops search the scene of a rocket attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
Israeli troops search the scene of a rocket attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 11, 2023. (AFP)

Initial US intelligence reports show that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the unprecedented attacks on Israel by Palestinian group Hamas, according to a source familiar with the reports.

The source said these Iranian leaders would ordinarily know about such an operation.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that the US did not have confirmation of an Iranian link to the attack.

"We are talking to our Israeli counterparts on a daily basis about this question. We are looking back through our intelligence holdings to see if we have any further information on that," he said.

Hamas, an Iranian-backed group, launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, killing hundreds of Israelis and seizing dozens of hostages.

Israel's death toll rose to 1,200 with over 2,700 wounded, its military said, from the militants' hours-long rampage after breaching the border fence enclosing Gaza on Saturday.

Israel subsequently battered Palestinians with air strikes in Gaza. The retaliatory strikes on the blockaded enclave have killed 1,055 people and wounded 5,184, Palestinian officials say. The UN said nine staffers working for the Palestinian refugee agency were among the dead.



Fighter Jet Goes Overboard from USS Harry S. Truman

Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
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Fighter Jet Goes Overboard from USS Harry S. Truman

Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP)

An F/A-18 fighter jet landing on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea went overboard, forcing its two pilots to eject, a defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The incident Tuesday marks the latest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman, which has been essential in the airstrike campaign by the United States against Yemen's Houthi militias.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and Oman's foreign minister both said that a ceasefire had been reached with the Houthis, who would no longer target ships in the Red Sea corridor.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight, but "the arrestment failed," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the incident now under investigation.

"Arrestment" refers to the hook system used by aircraft landing on carriers, which catches steel wire ropes on the flight deck. It remains unclear what part of the system failed.

The two pilots on board were later rescued by a helicopter and suffered minor injuries in the incident, the official added. No one on the flight deck was hurt.

CNN first reported on the incident.

Tuesday's incident was the latest to see the Navy lose an F/A-18, which cost about $60 million. In April, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the Truman and fell into the Red Sea. The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped away.

In December, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 after ships earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the militants. Both aviators in that incident also survived.

And in February, the Truman collided with a merchant vessel near Port Said, Egypt.

The Truman, based out of Norfolk, Virginia, has seen its deployment extended multiple times amid the Houthi airstrike campaign. It had been joined recently by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier operating out of the Arabian Sea.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on the social platform X that an investigation was underway and that "this aircraft was not struck by the Houthis."

"The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group remains fully mission-capable," he added.