Special operations forces from the United States were working with the Israeli military in response to the surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday, a U.S. official announced.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday, the fourth day of the conflict, that a small group of special operations forces was part of Israel’s counteroperation.

The U.S. also positioned the Ford carrier strike group in the far Eastern Mediterranean with warplanes, destroyers, and cruisers.

“We also have the ability to rapidly deploy other resources into the region,” Austin said.

The U.S. was helping the Israeli military with planning and intelligence, according to Austin, who talked to the reporters who were traveling with him to Brussels.

A family in Miami-Dade County was grieving after a 38-year-old father of four, a commander for the Israeli military, was killed during the Hamas attack.

Israeli-American reservists who live in South Florida have started to make their way back to Israel to help serve after the surprise attack on Saturday. There were some who were also planning to attend funerals before reporting to a military base.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt announced they wanted to mediate an end to the war. The International Committee of the Red Cross announced efforts to mediate access to hostages and prisoners of war.

“It is horrific and deeply distressing to see images of those captured by Palestinian armed groups being ill-treated, as well as reports of killings and the desecration of their bodies,” Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement.

The death toll of the conflict since Saturday was over 1,600.

Local 10 News: The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.

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