Two US warplanes struck an arms and ammunition site in Syria on Friday in response to attacks on US forces by Iran-backed militias, as concerns grew that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spill over into the Middle east.
The Pentagon said US President Joe Biden had ordered strikes on two targets used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the militias it supports, and warned the US would take further action if attacks by Iranian allies continued.
Last week, Iranian-backed forces carried out at least 19 attacks against US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Lebanese Hezbollah are all backed by Tehran
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolayan told the United Nations on Thursday that the United States will not escape fire if Israel’s offensive against Hamas does not stop.
The US airstrike took place around 4:30 a.m. on Friday. (0130 GMT) near the Syrian town of Abu Kamal on the Iraqi border and was carried out by two F-16 fighter jets using precision munitions, a Defense Ministry official said.
“These precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“These Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop,” Austin said.
The White House said Thursday morning that Biden sent a rare message to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning him not to target American forces in the Middle East.
“What we want is for Iran to take very specific actions, to direct its militias and proxies to stand down,” a senior U.S. defence official said. The United States did not coordinate the air strikes with Israel, the official added.
Israel said on Friday it was preparing the next phase of operations for a military strike against the Gaza Strip, amid concerns that a ground invasion of the Palestinian territories could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.
On October 7, Israel bombed the densely populated Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked Israeli communities. Israel claims Hamas has killed about 1,400 people, including children, and taken more than 200 hostages, some of them infants and the elderly.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Thursday that 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 children, had been killed in retaliatory airstrikes.
Egypt’s Al Qahera news agency, citing sources, reported that a rocket fired early Friday morning amid ongoing clashes between Hamas and Israel landed in an Egyptian seaside resort 220 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
Al Qahera TV reported that a rocket hit a medical facility in Taba, injuring at least six people.
A witness in the area confirmed hearing an explosion and seeing smoke rising, but the cause of the blast could not be immediately confirmed, according to Reuters. Taba is located in the Israeli port city of Eilat, on the Red Sea border with Egypt. Israel’s military said it was aware of security incidents outside its borders.
Although unconfirmed, Israel said its warplanes attacked three high-ranking Hamas operatives from the Daraz Tufa Battalion, part of the Gaza City Brigade, on Friday. Israel says the three commanders played a key role in the October 7 attack on Israel.
Israeli military vehicles entered the center of Al Bura and troops there clashed with militants near the border, Kazinpom said.
According to reports, Hamas militants exchanged gunfire with Israeli forces in a border area near the southern city of Rafah.
The question of whether a humanitarian pause or ceasefire is needed in the Hamas-controlled coastal areas as the plight of Palestinian civilians worsens will be put before the 193-member UN General Assembly in a draft resolution on Friday presented by Arab countries calling for a ceasefire.
Unlike the Security Council, where a resolution supporting Gaza was rejected this week, the General Assembly has no veto power and resolutions are not binding but have political influence.
“To say that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic is an understatement. Everything that is needed to sustain life is missing or dwindling by the hour in Gaza,” said Mamadou Sow, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ regional delegation.
More than 613,000 people are believed to have been displaced by Israel’s bombing of Gaza and are being protected by United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
