The Pentagon has confirmed that the US has been flying unarmed surveillance drones over Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. The drones are being used in support of hostage recovery efforts and are providing advice and assistance to the Israeli partner. The drones, MQ-9 Reapers, have been spotted by reporters on a publicly available flight-tracking website, circling Gaza. The drones are not helping co-ordinate Israeli military action but are passing on information related to hostage recovery. Officials have said that the drones are primarily used as surveillance aircraft due to their long loitering capability. In addition to the drone flights, the US Navy has recently fired combat munitions from an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) in the Arabian Sea - the first time this has occurred in the Middle East. The presence of these drones and the US Navy vessels in the region are part of the US effort to prevent the conflict between Hamas and Israel from spreading.