US hits 85 targets in Iraq and Syria – but says it will not strike inside Iran

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The US hit more than 85 targets as it launched air strikes against Iran-backed militias in the Middle East on Friday night.
American forces struck command and control centres, missiles and drone storage facilities in Iraq and Syria in an attack on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)
But the White House insisted it had no intention of hitting targets within Iran or sparking a wider conflict with the hostile state.
US Lt Gen Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, said the attacks appeared to be successful. Nineteen militants are reported to have been killed, and Lt Gen Sims added that the strikes were taken knowing that there would likely be casualties.
The Iraqi military said the strikes were in the Iraqi border area and warned they could ignite instability in the region.
“These airstrikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences,” Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said.
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US air strikes have hit facilities used by al Hashed al Shabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), in the Al-Qaim, Iraqi officials have said.
A spokesperson for Iraq’s armed forces said the US strikes were a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty”.
Yahya Rasool said: “The city of Al-Qaim and the Iraqi border areas are being subjected to airstrikes by US aircraft, at a time when Iraq is striving hard to ensure the stability of the region.
“These strikes are considered a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, posing a threat that could drag Iraq and the region into undesirable consequences, the outcomes will be dire for the security and stability in Iraq and the region.” 
Al-Qaim is in the western part of Anbar province, along the Iraq-Syria border.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration had not communicated with Iran since the Jordan attack.
However, Mr Kirby said the Iraqi government was notified about Friday’s strikes ahead of time.
Iraq’s shadowy Kataib Hezbollah, which is blamed by the US for the Jordan attack, said on Tuesday it would pause attacks on American forces.
But another Iran-backed Iraqi group, Nujaba, said it would continue launching attacks on US forces in the region until the Gaza war ends and American troops exit Iraq.
Iraq, whose prime minister called for the departure of international troops after a previous US strike in Baghdad, condemned the latest military action.
Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said the US strikes were a “violation of Iran’s sovereignty”.
The strikes hit three sites in Iraq and four in Syria, said Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director of the Joint Staff.
Lt Gen Sims added that officials were confident that the locations struck were “pretty significant” in degrading the military capability if Iran-backed militia groups.
The US strikes in Iraq and Syria took just half an hour, the White House said. 
There was “clear, irrefutable evidence” that the targets hit were connected to the attacks on US soldiers in Jordan on Sunday. 
All US aircraft are now “out of harm’s way”, the White House said, terming the operation a “success”. 
Senior Iran’s Revolutionary Guards figures would have been pulled out of Syria and Iraq in anticipation of the strikes, Beth Saner, a former senior national security official has told CNN.
Washington forewarned the Iraqi government before carrying out the strikes, John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman said.
US strikes have killed at least 18 pro-Iran fighters in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said
“At least 18 pro-Iran fighters have been killed” in air strikes on Syria’s east, five of them in Deir Ezzor, the monitor said, after the US military said it had carried out strikes on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Tehran-affiliated groups in Iraq and Syria.
The strikes were carried out by manned and unmanned aircraft, including long-range bombers flown from the United States.
B-1 bombers, which are long-range heavy bombers that can deploy precision and non-precision weapons, were used in the operations, according to one US defence official.
US Central Command said the strikes used more than 125 precision munitions.
More strikes are expected in the coming days, expanding the range of targets, US military officials said on Friday night.
President Joe Biden has just issued a statement confirming the strikes and reiterating the US will carry out further strikes if necessary.
The president said: “This past Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).   
“Earlier today, I attended the dignified return of these brave Americans at Dover Airforce Base, and I spoke with each of their families. 
“This afternoon, at my direction, US military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack US forces. 
“Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing. 
“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”
Senior White House sources stressed on Friday night they would not strike any sites within Iran itself. 
American forces carried out airstrikes on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Tehran-affiliated militia groups on Friday, hitting more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, the US military said.
“The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions,” US Central Command said on social media, adding that the targets included command and control and intelligence centers as well as rocket, missile and drone storage facilities belonging to militia groups and Iranian forces “who facilitated attacks against US and coalition forces.”
At least 13 pro-Iran fighters have been killed in the strikes in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 
The United States carried out retaliatory strikes on Friday in Iraq and Syria against facilities linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias they back, four US officials confirmed.
 
News of the strikes broke shortly after the conclusion of a solemn military ritual at a Delaware air base marking the return of the three US fatalities at the remote US base in Jordan.
They were the first American military personnel to be killed in an attack in the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, and the US had vowed to deliver a decisive response.
The Pentagon has not yet confirmed it is behind the strikes.
However, one US defence official confirmed the strikes to Fox News, and said they were being launched from multiple platforms.Six Iranian-aligned fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Right.Warplanes carried out four rounds of raids on sites housing Iran-backed groups in the country’s Deir Ezzor province, the war monitor said.
The US has begun conducting strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria, US media reported, in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three American soldiers in the region.
It marks the start of what is likely to be a series of larger-scale US strikes on Iranian-backed militias which Washington has identified as the culprits behind attacks on US troops in the Middle East,  two US officials told CNN.
Numerous sites in Syria were hit, as well as the Syria-Iraq border, resulting in a number of casualties and injuries, Syrian state media reported late Friday night.
It comes after three US service members were killed and more than 40 others wounded in a drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan on Sunday.
Syrian state media said on Friday that an ‘American aggression’ on a number of sites in Syria’s desert areas and the Syrian and Iraqi border resulted in several casualties and injuries.
Thank you for following our coverage. The key developments from the day were:
Satellite imagery analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre shows that 30 per cent of Gaza Strip’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged during the Israel offensive.
Air strikes, shelling and demolitions have razed entire city districts, including much civilian infrastructure.
“In total, a staggering 69,147 structures, equivalent to approximately 30 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s total structures, are affected,” the United Nations Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, said.
It said 22,131 structures in the enclave have been identified as destroyed, with an additional 14,066 deemed severely damaged and 32,950 having sustained moderate damage.
UNOSAT used satellite imagery from Jan 6-7, which it compared with six other sets of images, including some dating from before the Israeli offensive.
UNOSAT said that the regions of Gaza City and Khan Younis had experienced the most significant increase in damage since the previous analysis.
The UN voiced fears Friday about worsening conditions in southern Gaza, saying a surge in people seeking safety in Rafah had made the town a “pressure cooker of despair”.
The United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA said it was deeply concerned about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Yunis, which had resulted in increased numbers heading further south to Rafah in recent days.
“Most are living in makeshift structures, tents or out in the open,” Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesman, told a briefing in Geneva.
“Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next.
“Khan Yunis has also come increasingly under attack, and it’s been shocking to hear about the heavy fighting in the vicinity of the hospitals, jeopardising the safety of medical staff, the wounded and the sick, as well as thousands of internally displaced people seeking refuge there.”
Of the people rushing southwards, he said: “Are they truly safe? No. There’s no safe place in Gaza; also not in Rafah.”
A PRCS female employee was killed due to the occupation’s gunfire towards the PRCS building in #KhanYunis. #NotATarget ❌
A ship carrying 16,000 sheep and cows that turned back from the Red Sea due to the risk of attack off Yemen was stranded at an Australian port in a heatwave on Friday as the exporter sought to offload at least some of the animals into quarantine.
Meanwhile, another vessel carrying an even larger cargo – tens of thousands of animals – from Australia sailed for a Red Sea port in Jordan, with a contingency plan to unload them in the Gulf if it fails to obtain permission to enter the waterway.
Passage through the Red Sea has become perilous due to attacks on shipping by Yemen’s Houthi militia that have disrupted global trade.
The MV Bahijah set out for Israel on Jan 5 carrying around 14,000 sheep and two thousand cattle but diverted due to the threat of attack and was ordered home by the Australian government. It arrived in Perth in Western Australia on Monday during a summer heatwave.
Belgium summoned the Israeli ambassador on Friday to condemn the bombing of the country’s development agency in Gaza, the Belgian foreign ministry said.
Brussels said the offices of Enabel, the Belgian development agency, had been destroyed in northern Gaza. An official told AFP it took place on Wednesday.
I have just summoned the Israeli ambassador to express our strong condemnation of the destruction of #Enabel offices in #Gaza.Attacks on civilian infrastructure breach the principles of international humanitarian law.All parties must adhere to it.
It added that there were no employees in the building at the time of the bombing.
Hadja Lahbib, the Belgian foreign minister, and Caroline Gennez, the development cooperation minister, spoke to Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, the Israeli ambassador, in Brussels.
“The ministers strongly condemned the bombing and destruction of the offices,” the ministry said.
“The destruction of civilian infrastructure is absolutely unacceptable and does not comply with international law,” it added.
Victims of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct 7 are suing Binance over allegations that the crypto exchange enabled the terror group’s access to funding.
Natalie Raanan, 18, and her mother, Judith, who were both taken hostage by Hamas, were named as claimants on a lawsuit from three families.
The legal claim, filed in New York, accused Binance, which counts the former UK digital minister Ed Vaizey as a member of its global advisory board, of “aiding and abetting” Hamas by allowing the group to send cryptocurrency transactions and evade sanctions for years.
Read more from Matthew Field here
David Cameron has doubled down on suggestions that the UK could recognise a Palestinian state, saying the move could come before the end of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The UK’s recognition of an independent state of Palestine “can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process”, Lord Cameron said on Thursday.
“It could be something that we consider as this process, as this advance to a solution, becomes more real. What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own,” he added.
The US has also supported plans for an independent Palestine, saying that a “two-state solution” is vital for long-term stability.
However, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has publicly rejected the creation of an independent Palestinian state after the war, saying that Israel must retain security control of the region.
Sweden’s security police said on Friday that an explosive device found outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on Tuesday is now being investigated as a “suspected terrorist crime”.
Stockholm’s bomb squad eventually detonated the object and there were no injuries or damage to the building. The Swedish prime minister later called the incident “an attempted attack”.
“The criminal classification for the suspected crime is changed to terrorist crime due to grossly illegal threats and attempts to cause public destruction,” said the security police, which has now assumed responsibility for the investigation.
The United Nations humanitarian office voiced concern about the hostilities in Khan Younis that have forced more people to flee to Rafah in the south of Gaza, describing the border town as a “pressure cooker of despair”.
“I want to emphasise our deep concern about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Yunis, which has resulted in an increase in the number of internally displaced people seeking refuge in Rafah in recent days,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Thousands of Palestinians have continued to flee to the south, which is already hosting over half the population of some 2.3 million people … Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next.”
UNICEF said it estimated that 17,000 children in Gaza were unaccompanied or have been separated from their families during the conflict, and that nearly all children in the enclave were thought to require mental health support.
“They present symptoms like extremely high levels of persistent anxiety, loss of appetite. They can’t sleep, they have emotional outbursts or they panic every time they hear a bombing,” said Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’S chief of communication for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“Before this war, UNICEF was considering already that 500,000 children were already in need of mental health and psychosocial support in Gaza. Today, we estimate that almost all children are in need of that support, and that’s more than 1 million children.”
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president, said that his country would not start a war but that it would “respond strongly” to anyone who tried to bully it.
Mr Raisi’s comments came after days of speculation about how Washington might retaliate after three US soldiers were killed last Saturday in a strike on their base in Jordan by an Iranian-backed group.
CBS News, citing US officials, reported on Thursday that the United States had approved plans for multi-day strikes in Iraq and Syria against multiple targets, including Iranian personnel and facilities in those countries.
“We will not start any war, but if anyone wants to bully us they will receive a strong response,” Mr Raisi said in a televised speech.
“Before, when they (the Americans) wanted to talk to us, they said the military option is on the table. Now they say they have no intention of a conflict with Iran,” he said.
Half of US adults say Israel’s 15-week-old military campaign in Gaza has “gone too far,” a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Broadly, the poll shows support for Israel and the Biden administration’s handling of the situation ebbing slightly further across the board. 
The poll shows 31 per cent of US adults approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict, including just 46 per cent of Democrats. 
According to the findings, 33 per cent of Republicans now say Israel’s military response has gone too far, up from 18 per cent in November. Fifty-two percent of independents say that, up from 39 per cent. Sixty-two percent of Democrats say they feel that way, roughly the same majority as in November.
In all, 50 per cent of US adults now believe Israel’s military offensive has gone beyond what it should have, the poll found. That’s up from 40 per cent in an AP-NORC poll conducted in November.
Israel is accused of clearing a 1km “buffer zone” inside the Gaza Strip as part of a new security border that could shrink the overall size of the Palestinian territory.
Satellite images analysed by The Telegraph show more than 1,000 buildings destroyed around the land perimeter of Gaza since the Oct 7 Hamas terror attacks.
Western allies have warned Israel against a buffer zone. The Israeli government has denied carrying out the operation, although it admits clearing sections near the border for security.
Read more from Nataliya Vasilyeva and Robert Mendick here
The remains of three American soldiers killed in an attack by an Iranian-made drone in Jordan will arrive back in the United States on Friday.
The three Army Reserve soldiers killed last Sunday were Sgt William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia.
Joe Biden, the US president, will join the families of those killed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, for what the US Air Force calls a “dignified transfer” of remains. First lady Jill Biden will join the president along with defence secretary Lloyd Austin and Air Force Gen Charles Q Brown, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.
The drone attack by Iran-backed militants against the American outpost in Jordan, known as Tower 22, also injured more than 40.
Qatar said Hamas had given its “initial” approval to a hostage-prisoner exchange deal that would pause its war with Israel.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, said that recent talks in Paris between Qatari, US, Israeli and Egyptian officials had yielded a consolidated truce proposal.
“That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side.”
Ansari said there were hopes of “good news” about a new pause in the fighting “in the next couple of weeks”.
But a source close to Hamas told AFP on Thursday: “There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet – the factions have important observations – and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true.”
The Syrian military says it downed a number of Israeli missiles launched from the Golan Heights that were targeting south Damascus on Friday, state news agency SANA reported citing a military source.
Reports of an explosion in the vicinity of Damascus circulated earlier overnight.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel has for years carried out attacks on what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, and has escalated its strikes since Oct 7.