WASHINGTON – The Biden administration admitted Thursday that it had accidentally outed the identities of several US special operators working to help Israel find and rescue hostages taken by Hamas terrorists.
In one of the more egregious examples of the old adage, “loose lips sink ships,” the White House posted a photo to its official Instagram account of President Biden shaking the hand of a member of the Army’s elite counter terrorism unit.
Along with the service member Biden was greeting, the faces of three other Delta Force fighters could be seen in the photo.
The soldier shaking hands with Biden also revealed a distinctive set of tattoos on his right arm.
The revealing photograph was up for approximately an hour before officials were made aware of the problem, a White House spokesperson told The Post.
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“As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo,” the rep said.
“We regret the error and any issues this may have caused.”
The photo received more than 6,100 likes, according to a screenshot that circulated on social media on Thursday.
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The faces and names of special operators are kept secret to prevent identification by enemies if captured. Photos of Delta Force members are rare, and almost never include their faces.
Biden sent special operators to Israel last week to help “their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government.”
The Israeli government has confirmed 203 hostages are being held by Hamas after the terror group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
The White House has confirmed that Americans are among that number.