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Summary
It’s 3am in Sana’a. Here is where we are so far after the US and the UK have launched another round of joint airstrikes against Houthi targets:
The UK and UK carried out strikes against 36 targets linked to Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Saturday.
The targets were in at least 10 different locations in Yemen, AP reported. They marked the third time the US and Britain had conducted a large, joint operation to strike Houthi weapon launchers, radar sites and drones. Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand reportedly supported the latest strikes.
The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, issued a statement on the new strikes in Yemen. He said the military action “sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels”.
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, also issued a statement, saying the strikes were “proportionate and targeted”. He stressed they were not an escalation, adding: “I am confident that our latest strikes have further degraded the Houthis’ capabilities.”
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by Voyager tankers, carried out the strikes against Houthi locations in Yemen. The Typhoons used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs against several military targets. An MoD statement said a ground control station at as-Salif, west of Sana’a, which was used to control Houthi drones, was hit. It adds that the aircraft also attacked targets at Bani.
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Joe Biden’s emerging strategy on Yemen aims to weaken the Houthi militants but stops well short of trying to defeat the group or directly address Iran, the Houthis’ main sponsor, experts say.
The strategy blends limited military strikes and sanctions, and appears aimed at punishing the Houthis while limiting the danger of a wider Middle East conflict.
But Iranian officials told CNN following the latest strikes that they would make it harder to reach peace in the region. And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist, told the broadcaster earlier that the US was already in a proxy war with Iran.
He also suggested the ongoing Middle East crisis would hurt Biden in the US elections this year.
He said: “This is hurting Biden in an election year. And the longer this war goes on and the more we see escalation in this region, the harder it is for him to deal with Rep opposition, saying you’re a weenie you’re not taking this war to the Iranians, this would never have happened under Trump.”
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The Houthi-run Yemeni News Agency (Saba) said the US and Britain launched 14 raids on Saturday on the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah, according to Reuters.
Eleven of the attacks targeted the al-Barah area in the Maqbanah district and areas in the Haifan district, a security source told the news agency. The other three attacks targeted Jabal al-Jada’ in al-Lahiya district and al-Salif district in al-Hudaydah governorate.
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It is unclear how Tehran will respond to Saturday’s strikes, which do not directly target Iran but degrade groups it backs.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement carried by Reuters that Friday’s attacks in Iraq and Syria represented “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension and instability”.
Iraq summoned the US charge d’affaires in Baghdad to deliver a formal protest after strikes in that country.
US Central Command has also tweeted pictures of US and UK forces preparing for the strikes against Houthi targets.
In a tweet, it also said targets “included multiple underground storage facilities, command and control, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters”.
U.S. Forces, Allies Conduct Joint Strikes in Yemen
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 3, 2024
As part of ongoing international efforts to respond to increased Iranian-backed Houthi destabilizing and illegal activities in the region, on Feb. 3 at approximately 11:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces,… pic.twitter.com/hlfLY1QjOd
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The UK Ministry of Defence has released images of aircraft being prepared for take off ahead of further strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday:
Here are some more details on today’s strikes on Houthi targets, from the joint UK-US statement:
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by Voyager tankers, joined US forces in a further deliberate strikes against Houthi locations in Yemen.
The Typhoons used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs against several military targets.
The statement says a ground control station at as-Salif, west of Sana’a, which was used to control Houthi drones, was hit. It adds that the aircraft also attacked targets at Bani.
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Senior US officials have told CNN that the latest strikes against the Houthis were separate from the wave of retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia in Syria and Iraq that began on Friday.
Saturday’s strikes were part of the ongoing campaign against the Houthis and to protect commercial shipping lanes, the officials reportedly said.
UK defence secretary Grant Shapps says strikes are not an escalation
The UK defence secretary Grant Shapps also issued a statement after the joint strikes.
Shapps said it was Britain’s “duty to protect innocent lives and preserve freedom of navigation” following “illegal and unacceptable” attacks on ships.
He added:
That is why the Royal Air Force engaged in a third wave of proportionate and targeted strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen.
We acted alongside our US allies, with the support of many international partners, in self-defence and in accordance with international law.
Shapps stressed the strikes were not an escalation, adding: “I am confident that our latest strikes have further degraded the Houthis’ capabilities.”
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US defense secretary Lloyd Austin says Houthis face 'further consequences'
The US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has issued a statement on the new strikes in Yemen.
He said the military action “sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels.”
The statement also said:
“Coalition forces targeted 13 locations associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars.
“We will not hesitate to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”
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US and UK strikes aimed at 36 targets linked to Houthis in Yemen, statement says
The US and UK carried out strikes against 36 targets linked to the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, hitting buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems, launchers and other capabilities, according to a joint statement, carried by Reuters.
Sky News has a bit more on the statement, reporting it said the strikes were “in response to a series of illegal, dangerous, and destabilising Houthi actions since previous coalition strikes on January 11 and 22, 2024, including the January 27 attack which struck and set ablaze the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker M/V Marlin Luanda”.
Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand reportedly supported the latest strikes.
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Summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The UK and UK launched a new series of strikes against Iran-linked Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, according to US officials, in what appeared to be a second day of retaliatory operations following a deadly attack on American troops last weekend. The latest strikes struck at least 30 Houthi targets in 10 different locations in Yemen, AP reported. They marked the third time the US and Britain had conducted a large, joint operation to strike Houthi weapon launchers, radar sites and drones.
US forces conducted strikes “in self-defence” against six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles that were “prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea” on Saturday, hours before the latest joint operation with the UK. The US has previously carried out more than 10 strikes against Houthi targets in the past several weeks, but they have failed to stop attacks by the group targeting commercial ships and warships in the Red Sea.
US forces attacked more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria late on Friday in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard. The US military’s Central Command said it had struck with more than 125 bombs in what was described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups. It described Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds force as representing a “direct threat” to Iraq and the US.
A spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, warned that the US reprisal strikes in Syria and Iraq will have disastrous consequences for the region. Iraq’s Anbar Operations Command reported 16 fatalities and 25 injuries, but no official death toll has been issued. A senior US administration official has said Iraq was given short-notice warning that the US would strike. The Baghdad government dismissed the assertions as “lies”.
The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon on the US strikes in Iraq and Syria, according to reports. The meeting, requested by UN permanent member Russia, will take place at 4pm Eastern time (2100 GMT) on Monday, it has been reported.
The Syrian military said on Saturday that the US occupation of Syrian territory “cannot continue” after Washington carried out the deadly strikes. Syria’s defence ministry said the “blatant air aggression” of US forces led to a number of civilians and soldiers being killed, others being wounded and some significant damage to public and private property.
Israeli forces struck densely populated areas across the middle and southern Gaza Strip in a midnight attack on Friday and early Saturday, killing at least 25 people, the Palestinian health ministry said. Israeli fighter jets struck Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, as well as the city of Rafah in the south. The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said at least 107 people had been killed and 165 injured overnight. At least 27,238 Palestinians have been killed and 66,452 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures by the Gaza health ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has struck more than 50 targets in Syria linked to Hezbollah since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October. Israeli forces have attacked 34,000 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including 120 border surveillance outposts, 40 caches of missiles and other weaponry and more than 40 command centres, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a briefing on Saturday.
A senior Hamas official has confirmed it has received a framework for a ceasefire proposal in the Israel-Gaza war, but said a final agreement has not yet been reached. “We will announce our position” soon, Osama Hamdan said at a news conference in Beirut on Saturday. Qatari officials, who are mediating the talks along with Egyptian spy chief Abbas Kamel, expressed newfound optimism throughout this week that an agreement was in sight.
Pope Francis has condemned the “terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world” and the rise of antisemitism since 7 October. In a letter addressed to the Jewish population of Israel, the pope said “manifestations of hatred towards Jews and Judaism” are “a sin against God”.
The US House of Representatives plans to vote next week to advance $17.6bn in military aid to Israel without any accompanying spending cuts or assistance for Ukraine, according to Mike Johnson, the chamber’s speaker.
Thousands have marched in London and Edinburgh as pro-Palestine demonstrators called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Saturday’s marches were the UK’s first national demonstrations since the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to ensure acts of genocide are not committed in Gaza.
Updated
The US launched a series of strikes against Iran-linked targets in Yemen on Saturday, US officials said, in what appeared to be a second day of retaliatory operations following a deadly attack on American troops last weekend.
The officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not provide further details on the locations being struck, but two of them said there were dozens of targets.
Yemeni media reported strikes in Al-Hudaydah and Sana’a.
US and UK launch new strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, say US officials
The US and UK have launched a new series of strikes against Iran-linked targets in Yemen, according to US officials.
The latest strikes hit at least 30 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, AP reported, citing US officials. The strikes were launched by ships and fighter jets.
The Houthi targets were in 10 different locations and were struck by US F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier and by American warships firing Tomahawk missiles from the Red Sea, officials told AP.
The fate of a terrified six-year-old Palestinian girl trapped inside a car in Gaza with her dead family remains unknown, days after the ambulance dispatched to rescue her lost contact with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
The child, Hind Rajab, was inside the vehicle with six other family members in Gaza City on Monday, including her 15-year-old relative Layan Hamadeh.
Hamadeh spoke with the PRCS team as Israeli tanks and troops approached, telling dispatchers “they are shooting at us” in an audio recording released by the organisation.
Hamadeh and five other family members were killed, the PRCS said. Hind, the only survivor, spoke with dispatchers for three hours as they waited for fighting in the area to calm before sending help.
💔The story of the little girl Hind, trapped in a vehicle when occupation forces fired at all her relatives. She survived alone, enduring moments of terror and fear for several hours. The PRCS ambulance team reached the location five days ago, but as of now, they haven't…
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 3, 2024
“Hind kept asking us to come and get her, to send someone to get her,” one of the dispatchers told Reuters, adding that her emergency rescue team “felt paralysed”.
The Red Crescent said they soon lost contact with their ambulance team soon after it left, and have had no further contact with either its two crew or with Hind.
Where is Hind? Where are Ahmed and Yousef? We need to know.
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 3, 2024
🚨More than 110 hours have passed, and the fate of the PRCS ambulance team, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoun who went to rescue the 6-year-old girl, Hind, remains unknown. #Save_Hind #HumanitarianHeroes… pic.twitter.com/FOwK5voGoT
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A senior Hamas official has confirmed it has received a framework for a ceasefire proposal in the Israel-Gaza war, but said a final agreement has not yet been reached.
Osama Hamdan, at a news conference in Beirut on Saturday, said Hamas had received a “general framework proposal” that was drafted during talks in Paris involving intelligence chiefs from Israel, the US and Egypt, plus the prime minister of Qatar. He said:
We confirm that the leadership discussion and consultation about it is based on the negotiations reaching a complete end to the terrorist aggression against our Palestinian people, and a complete withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip.
He said Hamas leaders were reviewing the framework but more time was needed to “announce our position”, adding that the plan was missing some details.
“We will announce our position” soon “based on ... our desire to put an end as quickly as possible to the aggression that our people suffer”, he added.
US military says it destroys six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles in Yemen
The US Central Command has said its forces conducted strikes “in self-defence” against six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles that were “prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea”.
A statement posted to social media reads:
U.S. forces identified the cruise missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region. This action will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels.
USCENTCOM Destroys Six Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles in Yemen
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 3, 2024
On Feb. 3, at approximately 7:20 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes in self-defense against six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea. U.S. forces… pic.twitter.com/W9BVxiYedU
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck more than 50 targets in Syria and 3,400 in Lebanon linked to Hezbollah since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, in a briefing on Saturday reported by Reuters, said:
Since the beginning of the war, we have attacked, from the ground and air, more than 50 such targets of Hezbollah spread throughout Syria.
Israeli forces have attacked 34,000 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including 120 border surveillance outposts, 40 caches of missiles and other weaponry and more than 40 command centres, he said.
He put the number of targeted people killed by Israeli strikes at more than 200. Figures by Agence France-Presse show at least 218 people have been killed in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also at least 26 civilians. Hagari said:
Everywhere Hezbollah is, we shall be. We will take action everywhere required in the Middle East.
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Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from Rafah in southern Gaza.
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UN security council to hold emergency meeting over US strikes - reports
The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon on the US strikes in Iraq and Syria, AFP reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The meeting will take place at 4pm Eastern time (2100 GMT) on Monday, according to reports.
The meeting was requested by UN permanent member Russia to discuss “threats to international peace and security from the US strikes”, its UN representative Dmitry Polyansky said.
Russia has just called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss threats to international peace and security from the US strikes against Iraq and Syria. The meeting is expected to be held at 4 pm EST on February 5
— Dmitry Polyanskiy 🇺🇳 (@Dpol_un) February 3, 2024
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said earlier today that Moscow condemned the US airstrikes, and believes the situation needs to be considered by the UN security council. She said in a statement:
It is obvious that the airstrikes are deliberately designed to further inflame the conflict. By attacking, almost without pause, the facilities of allegedly pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Syria, the US are purposefully trying to drive the largest countries in the region into conflict.
The US House of Representatives will vote next week on a standalone bill to provide aid to Israel, House speaker Mike Johnson has announced.
The announcement comes as the Senate prepares to unveil its long-awaited comprehensive package to fund Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific and border security that Johnson has already declared “dead on arrival.”
In a letter to House Republicans on Saturday, Johnson criticised Senate leaders for having “eliminated the ability for swift consideration” of an emergency spending deal by not including the House in the talks. He wrote:
Given the Senate’s failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion, and the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel, the House will … take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package.
The bill is set to include $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for US forces in the region, Johnson’s office said.
US warned Iraq before strikes, says US official
Iraq received prior warning ahead of last night’s airstrikes, a senior US administration official has said.
As we reported earlier, Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has denied that the strikes were coordinated by the Baghdad government beforehand with Washington, calling such assertions “lies”.
But a US official has told NBC that the Iraqi government was given short-notice warning that the US would strike. They said:
It wasn’t a huge heads up, but it is not accurate to say they weren’t informed.
The official noted that last night’s strikes were tied directly to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and were in direct response to the killing of the three US service members, unlike the smaller US retaliation following Houthi attacks on international shipping. They added:
What you saw last night and what you are going to see again was not insignificant. There are other things we’re going to do. Some you will see and some you won’t see.
Pope Francis has condemned the “terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world” and the rise of antisemitism since 7 October.
In a letter addressed to the Jewish population of Israel, made public by the Vatican on Saturday, he wrote that the Catholic church “rejects every form of anti-Judaism and antisemitism, unequivocally condemning manifestations of hatred towards Jews and Judaism as a sin against God.”
The war in Gaza has produced “divisive attitudes in public opinion worldwide and divisive positions, sometimes taking the form of antisemitism and anti-Judaism”, Francis said. He added:
We had hoped that ‘never again’ would be a refrain heard by the new generations, yet now we see that the path ahead requires ever closer collaboration to eradicate these phenomena.
Francis has condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel 7 October, and has on several occasions called for a two-state solution to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In his letter, he called for the release of those hostages still being held in Gaza, and said his heart was “torn at the sight of what is happening in the Holy Land”. He said he prayed for peace:
My heart is close to you, to the Holy Land, to all the peoples who inhabit it, Israelis and Palestinians, and I pray that the desire for peace may prevail in all.
Syria’s culture ministry has accused the US of having damaged a historic site in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province during the bombardment late on Friday.
In a statement on social media, the ministry condemned “in the strongest terms the barbaric US bombardment” of Al-Rahba fortress in eastern Syria’s Mayadeen area.
The citadel, located along the Euphrates River, dates to the ninth century, it said.
The “blatant” attack violated “all international norms and charters that call for the protection and respect for cultural property,” the ministry added.
The bombardment caused cracks and fissures in the fortress walls, a pro-government outlet reported antiquities chief Nazir Awad as saying. The full extent of the damage had not yet been assessed, he added.
The head of Turkey’s national intelligence chief (MIT), Ibrahim Kalin, has met the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Qatar, Turkish state media reported.
The pair discussed efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli hostages held in the enclave and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to reports.
The thinking in the White House is apparently that an offer from Saudi Arabia – to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in return for a substantial step towards Palestinian statehood – would put Benjamin Netanyahu in a bind.
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition would never accept such a deal, but would be robbed of US support if it did not.
To stay in office, and thereby to elude the threat of prison as a result of the criminal corruption charges he faces, the Israeli prime minister would have to dump his coalition partners and go looking for others, according to the plan.
The fall of Netanyahu or his creation of a new governing coalition, would create space for diplomatic progress towards the elusive two-state solution for Israel and an independent Palestine. That in turn would create a happy synergy for Joe Biden in domestic politics by leading Arab-Americans, particularly in the swing state of Michigan, to forgive him for his steadfast support of Israel in its Gaza campaign, thereby helping save his presidency.
Meanwhile, a Saudi-Israeli concordat that achieved Palestinian statehood would reshape the Middle East, primarily at the expense of Iran, which has sought to project itself as a Palestinian champion in a time of occupation and persecution. It underpins Tehran’s projection of influence across the region.
At the same time as this new diplomatic push was being briefed in Washington, the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, suggested that the both the UK and the UN security council could recognise Palestine sooner rather than later, saying “it can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process”.
It seemed very likely that the former British prime minister’s remarks, delivered on a trip to Lebanon, had been coordinated with Washington to drive home the signal that “plans are in hand” to look for enduring solutions to the underlying Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The US is also reported to be studying options for when its recognition of a Palestinian state would come during the course of an eventual peace process, not necessarily leaving it until the end.
Among the options, according to a report by the Axios news site, are the bilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, forgoing the US veto on the UN security council vote admitting Palestine as a full member state (it has had non-member observer status since a UN general assembly vote in 2012) and, third, encouraging other states to follow Washington’s lead in recognition.
At the same time Saudi Arabia, which has not renounced its interest in normalising relations with Israel throughout the four months of the Gaza war, would offer to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in return for a substantial and “irrevocable” step towards Palestinian statehood.
Can a new Middle East emerge from the turmoil?
Friday night’s US airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq marked a new high tide in the violence that has spread across the region since the start of the Gaza war.
The Biden administration, however, is now seeking to show it has more in its Middle East policy toolkit than precision-guided bombs.
While it was planning the midnight sorties in retaliation for an attack last Sunday on a US base in Jordan, the White House has also been sending signals that it will not let the worsening crisis unfolding in the Middle East go to waste and that it is developing a plan to use the turmoil as an opportunity to transform the region.
The message has been sent out through leaks and briefings to sympathetic columnists before the departure on Sunday of secretary of state Antony Blinken on a trip to the Middle East, his fifth since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on 7 October, which will take him to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank.
Blinken’s first four forays achieved little, certainly not for the 2.3 million civilians in Gaza, though the US claimed some credit for the fact that the war did not immediately spread to Lebanon.
This time, according to the lines being put out, the secretary of state is carrying something more substantial in his briefing papers: a “grand bargain” deal involving normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and substantial movement towards the recognition of a Palestinian state – all incentivised by diplomatic and economic sweeteners from Washington.
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Residents of Rafah gathered to assess the damage after an Israeli airstrike that hit a house in the southern Gaza city on Saturday, killing at least a dozen people, according to Palestinian health officials. Video below:
Jordan involved in US strikes on Iran-backed targets in Iraq, Syria - report
The Middle Eastern nation of Jordan is participating in America’s military operation launched late on Friday to attack Iranian-backed targets in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone strike that killed three US troops last weekend, CNN is reporting.
The US cable TV giant cites an unnamed senior US official for its report.
The US army reservists, all from the southern US state of Georgia, were killed at a base in north-east Jordan, bordering both Iraq and Syria last Sunday.
CNN reported that the Jordanian Air Force denied participating and the Jordanian government would not comment on the story.
The outlet further reported that: “While no Jordanian border guard forces were hurt, government communications minister Muhannad Moubaideen on Sunday described the strike as a “terrorist attack” and vowed to confront the threat of terrorism.”
Talking live to CNN’s correspondent in Amman, Jordan, Ben Wedemen, moments ago the anchor asked him for some context on the report. Wedemen noted that Jordan joined the US, UK and others previously in the offensive against the Islamic State (Isis) fundamentalist militant group in the region, with participation by the Jordanian Air Force.
• The caption on this post was amended on 5 February 2024 to clarify that the picture was taken in February 2015, not in February this year as a previous caption suggested.
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Here are some scenes from Deir al-Balah, about seven miles north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza earlier today.
And more from Rafah, several miles further south on the border with Egypt.
A long wait for a meal for internally-displaced Gazan refugees in Deir al-Balah:
People line up:
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Ordinary residents of the southern Gazan cities of Rafah and Deir Al-Balah and hundreds of thousands of refugees there who fled Israeli bombardment further north now fear Israel is going to expand its ground offensive into those last remaining areas where people are taking shelter, Reuters reports.
Rafah is on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt and more than half the enclave’s 2.3 million population have fled there as the Israel Defense Forces press their nearly four-month-old war against the militant Hamas group. Aerial strikes have already been occurring.
Here are some images from there and from just across the border in Egypt:
An injured Palestinian child.
In Rafah itself:
More from Rafah:
This is Joanna Walters in New York, taking over from my colleague in London, Amy Sedghi. We’ll continue to bring you the news live, as it emerges from the Middle East.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It is 6.12pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv, 7.12pm in Damascus and Baghdad and 7.42pm in Tehran. Here are the latest developments:
US military forces attacked 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards, reportedly killing nearly 40 people. The US president, Joe Biden, said Friday’s strikes were launched in retaliation for the drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan and that “if you harm an American, we will respond”. The US Centcom said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds force represented a ‘direct threat’ to Iraq and the US.
Iraq has called the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty” that could have ‘“disastrous consequences” for the region. The office of the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Saturday denied that they were coordinated by the Baghdad government beforehand with Washington, calling such assertions “lies”.
Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement that US strikes had hit “locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed”.
Iraq’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday it would summon the US embassy’s chargé d’affaires – the ambassador being outside the country – to deliver a formal protest over US strikes on “Iraqi military and civilian sites”.
US airstrikes are fuelling the conflict in ‘very dangerous way’, said the Syrian foreign ministry. “What [the US] committed has served to fuel conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way,” Damascus’ foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Syrian military said on Saturday that the US occupation of Syrian territory “cannot continue” after Washington carried out deadly strikes in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan. Syria’s defence ministry said the “blatant air aggression” of US forces led to a number of civilians and soldiers being killed, others being wounded and some significant damage to public and private property.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets “represent another adventurous and strategic mistake by the US” that will “result only in increased tension in instability in the region”.
The UK called the US its “steadfast” ally on Saturday and said it supports Washington’s right to respond to attacks. “We wouldn’t comment on their operations, but we support their right to respond to attacks,” a British government spokesperson said.
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq. Borrell did not address the US strikes directly, but repeated a warning that the Middle East “is a boiler that can explode”.
Russia condemned the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, saying “it is obvious that the airstrikes are deliberately designed to further inflame the conflict”. The foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that the situation needs to be considered by the UN security council.
US strikes on Iraq and Syria are result of Iranian proxies ‘playing with fire’, said the Polish foreign minister. “Iran’s proxies have played with fire for months and years, and it’s now burning them,” Radosław Sikorski told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.
Middle East is ‘a powder keg’ and ‘too many’ are ‘running around with matches’, said Alexander Schallenberg, Austria’s foreign minister on Saturday.
Hamas condemned US “aggression against” Iraq and Syria, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and “an encroachment on the sovereignty of the two countries”.
Hezbollah strongly condemned the US airstrikes, calling them a “blatant American aggression against Iraq and Syria”. “What the US has done is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the two countries, an attack on their security and territorial integrity, and a shameless violation of all international and humanitarian laws,” it said.
At least 107 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 165 were injured in the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Palestine’s ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates has warned of the repercussions of a possible Israeli military operation on the city of Rafah. It also criticised the international community, reported Al Jazeera, for its failure to halt the war and ease the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
14 people were killed in two strikes in Rafah, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Rafah has been described as “a pressure cooker of despair”. An AFP journalist in the city heard powerful explosions shortly after midnight on Saturday.
Israeli airstrikes killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza cities of Rafah and Deir Al-Balah, Gaza health officials said on Saturday.
Israel continued its blistering assault in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as fears grew of a push into Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the fierce fighting have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war. Witnesses in Rafah told AFP that 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house.
In Khan Younis, witnesses told Reuters the Israeli army blew up a residential district near the city centre. In the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, the second major concentration of displaced people, medics said four people were killed in an airstrike on a house earlier on Saturday.
Although Israel is focusing on its push in the south, witnesses and militants told Reuters that fighting continued in Gaza City. Gaza health officials said two people were killed by sniper fire. Israeli forces carried out arrests in the southern suburb of Tel Al-Hawa.
The Israeli military said its forces killed dozens of Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza. “During targeted raids in the northern and central Gaza Strip over the last day, IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists and destroyed numerous anti-tank missile launchers,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other smaller militant groups said in a separate statement their fighters engaged in fierce battles with the army in the north and south of Gaza. “The more the occupation forces remain on the ground, the more we will get to them,” one Palestinian militant official said. “A martyr falls, another rises and takes the rifle, and we are ready to fight for many more months,” he told Reuters.
A constant barrage of airstrikes and tank fire rocked Khan Younis overnight, an AFP journalist said.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said more than 100 people were killed across the Palestinian territory overnight, mostly women and children. The Israeli army said its forces had killed “dozens of terrorists” in northern and central Gaza over the past 24 hours.
Eleven people have been injured in the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s (PRCS) headquarters in Khan Younis, due to Israeli forces throwing smoke bombs at displaced people, says the humanitarian organisation.
The “unprecedented level of destruction” in Gaza “will take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse”, said the UN. In its preliminary assessment of the economic impact of the destruction in Gaza and prospects for economic recovery, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) say that even with the end of the military operation and the recent average growth rate of 0.4%, it would take Gaza until 2092 just to restore GDP to 2022 levels.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has allocated $5m to support the efforts of the chief UN coordinator for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Sigrid Kaag, towards the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters, citing the state news agency WAM on Saturday.
“Hundreds of thousands” of protesters marched in London on Saturday afternoon calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. It is the UK’s first national demonstration since the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide in Gaza.
US forces shot down Houthi drones over Red Sea on Friday, says the US military. US Central Command said on Saturday US forces engaged and shot down several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Red Sea and also destroyed four drones that Houthi forces were preparing to launch from Yemen.
An Iraqi militia official on Saturday hinted at a desire to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East reports the Associated Press. Hussein al-Mosawi, spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, in an interview with AP in Baghdad condemned the US strikes. But he then struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that “we do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions”.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq militants on Saturday claimed to have targeted al-Harir airbase hosting US forces in northern Iraq but three security forces told Reuters no attack had been detected.
'Hundreds of thousands' of protesters in London call for a ceasefire in Gaza
Protesters marched in London on Saturday afternoon calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which organised the march, “hundreds of thousands” of people had turned out. Photographs and videos posted to X show large crowds with banners, placards and Palestinian flags.
It is the UK’s first national demonstration since the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide in Gaza.
After having told organisers on Wednesday the Metropolitan police would not allow the expected 300,000 demonstrators to end with a rally on Whitehall, where marches have regularly ended, the force made a U-turn on Thursday and said the march could end near Downing Street.
London now. Massive demonstration calling for a #ceasefire. Marching alongside thousands in solidarity with #Gaza and all of #Palestine. pic.twitter.com/8bXtXlfi3y
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) February 3, 2024
Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets of London today to call for a #CeasefireNow 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/HMK1OxiiMD
— PSC (@PSCupdates) February 3, 2024
Prior to the start of Saturday’s march, my colleague, Sammy Gecsoyler wrote:
The Met announced on Friday evening that the deputy assistant commissioner Matt Ward had authorised officers to demand the removal of face coverings throughout the borough of Westminster from 10am on Saturday to 1am on Sunday. The measure requires the removal of any item that police believe is being worn to conceal a person’s identity. The force said this did not apply to religious face coverings.
Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), said: “This is another example of the Met trying to create an intimidating environment and making people feel reticent or fearful about coming to a demonstration because it’s going to be a repressive environment. What’s astonishing is despite all of that, people are still turning up in such huge numbers.”
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Middle East is 'a powder keg' and 'too many' are 'running around with matches', says Austrian foreign minister
“I believe those who are attacking US bases have to know that they are actually pouring oil into the fire. And our common goal has to be to prevent the spillover at all costs,” said Alexander Schallenberg, the Austrian foreign minister, on Saturday in response to the US airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.
Reuters reports Schallenberg as saying: “This is a powder keg, the whole Middle East, and there are too many people running around with matches.” Schallenberg praised the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, as doing “an immense job … to keep the crisis where it is and not to have it spill over into the whole region”.
Meanwhile, Hamas condemned US “aggression against” Iraq and Syria, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and “an encroachment on the sovereignty of the two countries”.
Hezbollah also strongly condemned the US airstrikes, calling them a “blatant American aggression against Iraq and Syria”. “What the US has done is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the two countries, an attack on their security and territorial integrity, and a shameless violation of all international and humanitarian laws,” it said.
Updated
Although Israel is focusing on its push in the south, witnesses and militants told Reuters that fighting continued in Gaza City. Gaza health officials said two people were killed by sniper fire. Israeli forces carried out arrests in the southern suburb of Tel Al-Hawa.
The Israeli military said its forces killed dozens of Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza. “During targeted raids in the northern and central Gaza Strip over the last day, IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists and destroyed numerous anti-tank missile launchers,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other smaller militant groups said in a separate statement their fighters engaged in fierce battles with the army in the north and south of Gaza.
“The more the occupation forces remain on the ground, the more we will get to them,” one Palestinian militant official said. “A martyr falls, another rises and takes the rifle, and we are ready to fight for many more months,” he told Reuters.
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18 killed in Rafah and Deir Al-Balah by Israeli airstrikes, say Gaza health officials
Israeli airstrikes killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza cities of Rafah and Deir Al-Balah, Gaza health officials said on Saturday, reports Reuters.
Tens of thousands of people have arrived in Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt, in recent days, carrying their belongings and pulling children on carts, since Israeli forces last week launched one of their biggest assaults of the war to capture nearby Khan Younis, the main southern city.
Health officials in Gaza said an Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah killed 14 people, including women and children. There was no confirmation from the Israeli military that it carried out the strike, says Reuters. A military spokesperson said: “In stark contrast to Hamas’s intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”
Gaza health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians in their tallies, say more than 27,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed since the start of the war, 107 of them in the past 24 hours, with thousands more feared lost amid the ruins.
In Khan Younis, witnesses told Reuters the Israeli army blew up a residential district near the city centre. In the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, the second major concentration of displaced people, medics said four people were killed in an airstrike on a house earlier on Saturday.
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US forces shot down Houthi drones over Red Sea on Friday, says US military
US military forces shot down seven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the Red Sea on Friday evening, according to an update on X by the US Central Command (Centcom).
In its update, Centcom wrote: “At 9:20 p.m. (Sana’a time), USS Laboon (DDG 58) and F/A-18s from the Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group engaged and shot down seven UAVs over the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported. These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy vessels and merchant vessels.”
USCENTCOM Red Sea Operational Update
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 3, 2024
On Feb. 2, at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), USS Carney (DDG 64) engaged and shot down one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries or damage reported.
Later that same day, at approximately 4:40… pic.twitter.com/K7zVEq6zjm
The update also said that an UAV had been shot down over the Gulf of Aden at 10.30am (Sann’a time) on Friday. There were no injuries or damage reported. Later that same day, at approximately 4.40pm (Sana’a time), US military forces conducted strikes against four Houthi UAVs that were prepared to launch, said Centcom.
“US forces identified the UAVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region.” It said, US forces had subsequently struck and destroyed the UAVs in self-defence.
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US airstrikes were 'deliberately designed' to 'further inflame the conflict', says Russian foreign ministry
Russia has condemned the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, and believes the situation needs to be considered by the UN security council, the foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Saturday, according to Reuters.
“It is obvious that the airstrikes are deliberately designed to further inflame the conflict. By attacking, almost without pause, the facilities of allegedly pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Syria, the US are purposefully trying to drive the largest countries in the region into conflict,” Zakharova said in a statement.
The US launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and militias it backs, reportedly killing nearly 40 people, in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops in Jordan.
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Iraq to summon US embassy’s chargé d’affaires after airstrikes, says foreign ministry
Iraq’s foreign ministry announced on Saturday it would summon the US embassy’s chargé d’affaires – the ambassador being outside the country – to deliver a formal protest over US strikes on “Iraqi military and civilian sites”, reports AP.
The US air assault on Friday was in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan last weekend, which the US has blamed on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias.
Iran, meanwhile, has attempted to distance itself from the attack, saying that the militias act independently of its direction.
Updated
An Iraqi militia official on Saturday hinted at a desire to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East after retaliatory strikes launched by the US against dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Hussein al-Mosawi, spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, in an interview with AP in Baghdad condemned the US strikes. He said Washington “must understand that every action elicits a reaction”. But he then struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that “we do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions”.
Mossawi said the targeted sites in Iraq were mainly “devoid of fighters and military personnel at the time of the attacks”. Suggesting there was not too much damage which could allow him to justify the lack of a strong response.
AP reports that although Syrian state media reported that there were casualties from the strikes, no figures were given. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 23 people were killed in the Syria strikes, all rank-and-file fighters.
The Iraqi government spokesperson Bassim al-Awadi said in a statement on Saturday that the strikes in Iraq near the Syrian border killed 16, including civilians, and there was “significant damage” to homes and private properties.
Awadi condemned the strikes as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, particularly since some of them targeted facilities of the Population Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias, was officially brought under the umbrella of the Iraqi armed forces after it joined the fight against Islamic State in 2014, but in practice it continues to operate largely outside state control.
The PMF said in a statement on Saturday that one of the sites targeted was an official security headquarters of the group. In addition to 16 killed, it said 36 had been wounded, “while the search is still ongoing for the bodies of a number of the missing”.
Updated
Updated
Dr Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and north Africa programme at Chatham House, has said any response from Iran in the coming days depends much upon the numbers of casualties on the ground.
She added that the role of new US sanctions and a reported cyber-attack on Iran could also be important.
She told CNN:
Iran, should it choose to respond, and it’s important to note that they have been consistently messaging that they are not seeking a broader escalation, could choose to pursue the cyber route in a response – and that might be a climbdown off of the escalation ladder.
She added:
Iran certainly has been the convener of these groups. It has nurtured the relationships; it has invested in individuals, built up capacity, transferred technology, drones, missile capability to these groups, helped them build their capabilities.
And over the years, particularly since [Qassem] Soleimani’s death in 2020, Iran has decentralised leadership control over these groups. It wants to take the onus of responsibility off Iran and it has empowered key commanders across the region.
It has also played a very important role in managing and coordinating among these groups. So, sometimes, of course, Iran presses ‘go’ or messages that the escalation is good for the ‘axis of resistance’ or to protect Hamas, or distract Israel and pressure the United States.
Updated
Red Crescent says 11 injured at its Khan Younis HQ as Israeli forces throw smoke bombs
Eleven people have been injured in the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s (PRCS) headquarters in Khan Younis, due to Israeli forces throwing smoke bombs at displaced people, says the humanitarian organisation.
🚨Urgent: 11 injuries among the displaced in the PRCS's headquarters in #KhanYunis due to the occupation forces throwing smoke bombs at the displaced.#NotATarget ❌ #IHL#AlAmalHospital #Gaza
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 3, 2024
In another post on the PRCS X account, it asked for help locating its colleagues Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoun from the PRCS ambulance team, who went to rescue a six-year-old girl, Hind, more than four days ago.
Where is Hind? Where are Ahmed and Yousef? We need to know.
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 3, 2024
🚨More than 110 hours have passed, and the fate of the PRCS ambulance team, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoun who went to rescue the 6-year-old girl, Hind, remains unknown. #Save_Hind #HumanitarianHeroes… pic.twitter.com/FOwK5voGoT
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Palestinian ministry warns of repercussions if Rafah is attacked, reports Al Jazeera
Palestine’s ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates has warned of the repercussions of a possible Israeli military operation on the city of Rafah. The ministry said such an operation would result in “the annihilation of about 1.5 million Palestinians, or an attempt to displace them”, reports Al Jazeera, citing a statement quoted by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Comments made by the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, that the Israeli army would turn its focus on Rafah were being viewed with “great seriousness”, said the ministry. It also criticised the international community, says Al Jazeera, for its failure to halt the war and ease the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
Updated
Reuters has more from the Iranian foreign ministry’s statement on the US airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.
In Tehran’s first response, the foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement that the strikes represented “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the US that will result only in increased tension and instability in the region”. He said they were “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Syria and Iraq.
Kanaani said the US attacks were designed “to overshadow the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza”. He did not indicate if Iran would take any action in response. He also urged the UN security council to prevent “illegal and unilateral US attacks in the region”.
Before the US retaliatory strikes on Friday, the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said Iran would not start a war but would “respond strongly to anyone who tries to bully it”.
Kanaani said “the root cause of tensions and crises in the Middle East is Israel’s occupation and genocide of Palestinians with America’s unlimited support”.
Updated
My colleague, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, has written on Iraq warning that the US strikes will have disastrous consequences for the region. You can read the full piece at the link below:
The US reprisal strikes in Syria and Iraq will have disastrous consequences for the region, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has warned. Gen Yehia Rasool’s response was one of many from inside the Iraqi government that furiously condemned a violation of its sovereignty.
The US military launched airstrikes on Friday against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs, in retaliation for last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops. Iraq’s Anbar Operations Command reported 16 fatalities and 25 injuries, but no official death toll has been issued.
Iran claimed the attacks would only hasten the withdrawal of US troops from both countries and insisted that no Revolutionary Guards had been present in the areas struck by US forces, a claim that will be tested in the hours ahead.
Updated
The US military’s Central Command released footage of a B-1 bomber taking off from a runway as strikes were launched against targets belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The US president, Joe Biden, said the strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan, adding: ‘Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.’
Updated
There are differing reports on the number of people injured in the US airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.
While Reuters reports that 25 people were injured, the latest from AFP says it is 23 people. AFP’s figure is attributed to a statement by the Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi on Saturday. The death toll of 16 remains the same in both reports.
In his statement, Awadi said that US strikes had hit “locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed”.
Updated
Israel continued its blistering assault in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as fears grew of a push into Rafah, the southern city teeming with civilians uprooted by the nearly four-month war, reports AFP.
A constant barrage of airstrikes and tank fire rocked Khan Younis overnight, an AFP journalist said of the main city in southern Gaza that has been the most recent focus of the Israeli offensive.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said more than 100 people were killed across the Palestinian territory overnight, mostly women and children. The Israeli army said its forces had killed “dozens of terrorists” in northern and central Gaza over the past 24 hours.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the fierce fighting have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war, with their tents cramming spaces along streets and in parks, say AFP.
The city, which had been home to 200,000 people, now hosts more than half of Gaza’s 2.4 million population, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
Witnesses in Rafah told AFP that 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a house owned by the Hijazi family. “They bombed without any warning,” said 45-year-old Bilal Jad, a neighbour whose house was damaged in the attack. “There’s no safe place anywhere. The airstrikes are everywhere.”
Civilians who fled to Rafah have been pushed up against the border with Egypt, trying to avoid parts of the city exposed to the fighting in nearby Khan Younis.
Updated
107 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, says health ministry
The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 107 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 165 were injured in the past 24 hours.
According to the statement, at least 27,238 Palestinians have been killed and 66,452 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.
The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
US airstrikes 'will result only in increased tension' in the region, says Iran's foreign ministry
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets “represent another adventurous and strategic mistake by the US” that will “result only in increased tension in instability in the region”.
A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry said the country strongly condemned the US military strikes as “violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Iraq and Syria.
Updated
US airstrikes in Iraq killed 16 including civilians, says Iraqi prime minister's office
Sixteen people were killed, among them civilians, and 25 injured in overnight US airstrikes on pro-Iran targets in Iraq, the office of the prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said on Saturday, reports Reuters.
In a statement, it condemned the strikes as a “new aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty” and denied that they were coordinated by the Baghdad government beforehand with Washington, calling such assertions “lies”.
The presence of the US-led military coalition in the region “has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts”, the statement added.
Updated
'Unprecedented' destruction in Gaza will 'take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse', says UN
#Gaza: Unprecedented level of destruction will take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse.
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) February 3, 2024
Even with the end of the military operation and the recent average growth rate of 0.4%, it would take Gaza until 2092 just to restore 2022 GDP levels. https://t.co/XgFK4I8eZZ pic.twitter.com/naquvHU8T6
The “unprecedented level of destruction” in Gaza “will take tens of billions of dollars and decades to reverse”, says the UN.
In its preliminary assessment of the economic impact of the destruction in Gaza and prospects for economic recovery, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) say that even with the end of the military operation and the recent average growth rate of 0.4%, it would take Gaza until 2092 just to restore gross domestic product (GDP) to 2022 levels.
UNCTAD say that “even an optimistic scenario shows Gaza’s recovery will take over a decade” and warned that “if Gaza is to re-emerge with a viable economy, the military confrontation should end immediately, and reconstruction should begin in earnest and without delay”.
It added that “the international community needs to act now before it is too late”.
You can view the Guardian’s visual investigation into how the war has destroyed Gaza’s neighbourhoods at the link below. It uses satellite imagery and open-source evidence to lay bare the destruction to civilian infrastructure by Israel in its war on Hamas.
Updated
Further to claims by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq militants that the group had targeted al-Harir airbase hosting US forces in northern Iraq on Saturday, Reuters has now reported three security forces as saying no attack has been detected.
We will update with more details as they come in.
Updated
Iraq warns of 'disastrous consequences' for region after US airstrikes
Iraq has called the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty” that could have ‘“disastrous consequences” for the region, reports Reuters.
Yahya Rasool, a spokesperson for Iraq’s prime minister, said:
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 disastrous consequences.
Updated
UAE allocates $5m to support UNRWA's Gaza efforts - reports
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has allocated $5m to support the efforts of the chief UN coordinator for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Sigrid Kaag, towards the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters, citing the state news agency WAM on Saturday.
Major donors to UNRWA earlier suspended funding after allegations emerged that some of its employees were suspected of involvement in the 7 October attacks in Israel by Hamas.
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US airstrikes fuelling conflict in 'very dangerous way', says Syrian foreign ministry
Syria’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned overnight retaliatory US airstrikes against more than 85 targets in Syria and Iraq linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs.
“What [the US] committed has served to fuel conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way,” Damascus’ foreign ministry said in a statement seen by Reuters.
UK calls US its 'steadfast' ally as it supports US 'right to respond to attacks'
The UK called the US its “steadfast” ally on Saturday and said it supports Washington’s right to respond to attacks, after the US military launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets, reports Reuters.
“The UK and US are steadfast allies. We wouldn’t comment on their operations, but we support their right to respond to attacks,” a British government spokesperson said in a statement.“We have long condemned Iran’s destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant groups.”
The US and UK last month launched coordinated strikes across Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi forces who have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea.
Updated
Syrian military says US occupation of Syrian territory ‘cannot continue’
The Syrian military said on Saturday that the US occupation of Syrian territory “cannot continue” after Washington carried out deadly strikes in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan, reports AFP.
The overnight strikes killed “a number of civilians and soldiers, wounded others and caused significant damage to public and private property”, the Syrian military said in a statement.
“The occupation of parts of Syrian territory by US forces cannot continue,” it added, affirming the army’s “determination to liberate all Syrian territory from terrorism and occupation”.
The US blamed Sunday’s drone attack in Jordan on Iran-backed groups, but did not strike inside Iranian territory, with both Washington and Tehran seemingly keen to avoid all-out war.
According to AFP, the US has about 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighbouring Iraq as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State group, a jihadist organisation that once controlled swathes of both countries.
Updated
Top EU diplomat urges no Middle East escalation after US strikes
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell,has called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Everybody should try to avoid that the situation becomes explosive,” Borrell said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Borrell did not address the US strikes directly, but repeated a warning that the Middle East “is a boiler that can explode”.
He pointed to the war in Gaza, violence along the Lebanese border, bombings in Iraq and Syria and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. “That’s why we call everybody to try to avoid an escalation,” Borrell said.
The EU is aiming to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea later this month to help protect international vessels from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. Borrell said the mission would be “defensive” and not conduct any attacks on land against the Yemeni rebels.
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Islamic Resistance in Iraq militants targeted airbase hosting US forces in northern Iraq, says group
Islamic Resistance in Iraq militants on Saturday targeted al-Harir airbase hosting US forces in northern Iraq, the group said, reports Reuters.
It comes hours after the US carried out retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-linked targets.
We will update with more details as they come in.
Updated
My colleagues, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, and the Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, have written a piece on the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. You can read it here:
Joe Biden has warned “if you harm an American, we will respond” as US forces attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The US president said the strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan, adding: “Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.”
The US military’s Central Command said it had struck with more than 125 bombs in an attack that took place around midnight local time in what was described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups.
Updated
US strikes on Iraq and Syria are result of Iranian proxies 'playing with fire', says Polish foreign minister
Poland’s foreign minister said on Saturday that US retaliatory strikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria were the result of Iranian proxies “playing with fire”, reports the news agency Reuters.
“Iran’s proxies have played with fire for months and years, and it’s now burning them,” Radosław Sikorski told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds force represent a 'direct threat' to Iraq and US, says US military
In an update on the US Central Command’s (Centcom) X account, the US Centcom commander, Gen Michael Kurilla, said:
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds force and affiliated militia groups continue to represent a direct threat to the stability of Iraq, the region, and the safety of Americans.
We will continue to take action, do whatever is necessary to protect our people, and hold those responsible who threaten their safety.”
Centcom also posted a statement on the US strikes in Iraq and Syria. It says that at 4pm (EST) on Friday, US forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds force and affliated milita groups.
According to the statement, US military forces “struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from US”, and the “airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions”.
CENTCOM Statement on U.S. Strikes in Iraq and Syria
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 2, 2024
At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces… pic.twitter.com/HeLMFDx9zY
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Syria’s defence ministry said the “blatant air aggression” of US forces led to a number of civilians and soldiers being killed and others being wounded and some significant damage to public and private property.
The comments on Saturday came after the US’s wide-ranging air assault on sites in Iraq and Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the militias it backs.
Reuters quoted the Syrian ministry as saying:
Occupying parts of Syrian lands by American forces cannot continue ... the Syrian army affirms continuing its war against terrorism until it is eliminated and is determined to liberate the entire Syrian territories from terrorism and occupation.
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Attacks reportedly leave 14 dead in 'pressure cooker’ Rafah
Deadly strikes were reported early on Saturday in the overcrowded Gaza border city of Rafah as international mediators readied a new push to seal a tentative truce deal between Israel and Hamas.
Agence France-Presse reports that hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war, with the former city of 200,000 now housing more than half of Gaza’s population of 2 million-plus, a World Health Organisation representative said on Friday.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said it was deeply concerned about the escalation of hostilities in nearby Khan Younis which have pushed more and more people south in recent days.
“Most are living in makeshift structures, tents or out in the open,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said in Geneva.
Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next.
An AFP journalist in the city heard powerful explosions shortly after midnight on Saturday, with the Hamas-run health ministry later reporting 14 people killed in two strikes there.
The ministry said more than 100 people in total were killed across the territory overnight.
Abdulkarim Misbah, one of the many people seeking refuge in Rafah, said he had first left his home in the northern Jabalia refugee camp for Khan Yunis, only to be uprooted again.
“We escaped last week from death in Khan Younis, without bringing anything with us. We didn’t find a place to stay. We slept on the streets the first two nights,” the 32-year-old father said.
My four children are shivering from the cold. They feel sick and unwell all the time.
Winter storms and torrential rain lashed Gaza on Friday, with some people wearing hazmat suits left over from the Covid pandemic as protection against the harsh weather.
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US strikes Iraq and Syria as Israeli attacks reported in southern Gaza
Welcome back as we resume today’s live coverage of the Middle East crisis – it’s just passed 9am in the Gaza Strip and Tel Aviv and 10am in Baghdad and Damascus.
US forces have attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard.
At least 18 pro-Iran fighters were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported.
The US president, Joe Biden, said Friday’s strikes were launched in retaliation for the drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan and that “if you harm an American, we will respond”.
The US military’s Central Command said it struck with more than 125 bombs in an attack that took place around midnight local time in what was described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups.
For a summary of those events, see our previous post below.
Meanwhile, deadly attacks were reported early on Saturday in the overcrowded Gaza border city of Rafah as international mediators readied a new push to seal a reportedly tentative truce deal between Israel and Hamas.
Powerful explosions were heard in Rafah shortly after midnight, with the Hamas-run health ministry later reporting 14 people killed in two strikes in the city, which the UN called “a pressure cooker of despair”.
The ministry said more than 100 people in total were killed across Gaza overnight.
More on those stories here shortly. And here’s our full report on the US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.
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Summary
It’s 6am in Baghdad and Damascus and we’ll pause this live coverage for now. You can see our full report on the US airstrikes here. And here’s a rundown on the day’s events. Thanks for reading.
US military forces have attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard. The US military’s Central Command said it had struck with more than 125 bombs in an attack that took place around midnight local time (4pm ET) in what is being described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups. The airstrikes took place over about 30 minutes on Friday, and three of the sites struck were in Iraq and four were in Syria, said Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director of the joint staff.
Initial reports from the ground were limited. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said at least 18 Iran-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria. At least 26 important sites housing pro-Iran groups including weapons depots had been destroyed in raids striking a large swath of eastern Syria, stretching more than 100km (62 miles) from the city of Deir ez-Zor to Albu Kamal, near the Iraq border, the monitoring group told AFP.
The US strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan. The US said on Thursday it blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-linked militias, for the attack last weekend on the remote Tower 22 logistics base in Jordan, near the border with Syria and Iraq. Three US army reservists were killed after a living quarters was struck at night and more than 80 wounded.
US officials have said there were no plans to bomb Iran, which would represent a significant escalation. US administration officials have repeatedly stressed that Washington does not intend to go to war with Iran, despite the accusation that it had armed the groups behind the Tower 22 attack.
President Joe Biden warned after the attacks began that the US would retaliate if an American was hurt. His statement said: “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.” John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said the responses “began tonight. They’re not going to end tonight.”
An Iraqi military spokesperson said US airstrikes were launched at Iraqi border areas, warning that the attacks could ignite instability in the region. Yahya Rasool said in a statement: “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.”
The US announced new sanctions and charges aimed at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, apparently timed to coincide with the American strikes. The US Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on six officials in the cyber-electronic command of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps over activities targeting critical infrastructure and was hitting a network of suppliers providing “materials and sensitive technology for Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs”. As well, prosecutors said they had seized $108m used in an oil laundering scheme to fund the Guards’ elite Quds Force.
Republican senator Roger Wicker, a ranking member of the armed services committee, criticised the Biden administration for the airstrikes coming “far too late”. The Democratic chairman of the Senate armed services committee, Jack Reed, said he supported Biden’s “robust action” and “Iran’s proxy forces in Syria and Iraq have been dealt a significant blow”.
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In the US, a Republican senator who is a ranking member of the armed services committee has criticised how long the US has taken to launch the attacks in Iraq and Syria.
Roger Wicker said:
These military strikes are welcome, but come far too late for the three brave Americans who died and the nearly 50 wounded.
Iran and its proxies have tried to kill American soldiers and sink our warships 165 times while the Biden administration congratulates itself for doing the bare minimum.
Instead of giving the ayatollah the bloody nose that he deserves, we continue to give him a slap on the wrist.
On the Democratic side, Reuters also reports, the chairman of the Senate armed services committee, Jack Reed, said:
Iran’s proxy forces in Syria and Iraq have been dealt a significant blow, and Iranian-linked militias around the Middle East should understand that they, too, will be held accountable.
I salute the brave US military members who carried out today’s strikes, and I support President Biden’s robust action. These strikes, in concert with wise diplomacy, send a clear signal that the United States will continue to take appropriate action to protect our personnel and our interests.
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The US strikes in Iraq and Syria appeared to stop short of directly targeting Iran or senior leaders of the Revolutionary Guard Quds Force within its borders as Washington tries to prevent the conflict from escalating further.
The Associated Press reports it is unclear what the impact of the strikes will be. Days of US warnings may have sent militia members scattering into hiding. With multiple groups operating at various locations in several countries, a knockout blow is unlikely, the news agency says.
One of the main Iran-backed militias, Kataib Hezbollah, said it was suspending attacks on American troops, but others have vowed to continue fighting, casting themselves as champions of the Palestinian cause amid the war in Gaza.
An Iraqi army spokesman said the city of al-Qaim and areas along the country’s border with Syria had been hit in the US strikes. The attacks “constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, posing a threat that will pull Iraq and the region to undesirable consequences”, Yahya Rasool said in a statement.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US alerted the Iraqi government prior to carrying out the strikes.
Just Friday morning, Iran’s hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, reiterated earlier promises by Tehran to potentially retaliate for any US strikes targeting its interests. We “will not start a war, but if a country, if a cruel force wants to bully us, the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a strong response”, he said.
The US has blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a broad coalition of Iran-backed militias, for last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan which killed three American troops. Some of the militias have been a threat to US bases for years, but the groups intensified their assaults in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas.
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US retaliation, when it came, was broad and deep, and telegraphed five days in advance.
The White House, the Pentagon and state department had spent the best part of a week talking about the response to Sunday’s drone attack on a US base in northern Jordan which killed three Americans and wounded more than 30.
They warned that retaliation against the suspects, primary among those the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, would be “multi-tiered” and continue over many days, but when the opening salvo came in the early hours of Saturday Middle Eastern time, it still caused some surprise in its range and scale.
According to US Central Command, 85 targets were hit in seven facilities, four in Syria and three in Iraq, with more than 125 precision munitions, using a mix of drones and long range B1 bombers flying from US territory in a demonstration of the reach of the US air force.
“Tonight’s strikes in western Iraq eastern Syria are FAR bigger than any action undertaken before against Iran’s proxies – huge secondary explosions on both sides of the border suggest big rocket/missile depots have been hit,” Charles Lister, senior fellow of the Middle East Institute, said on social media platform X.
President Joe Biden said the targets were facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and “affiliated militia”, and he made clear that it was just the beginning. The full response for the attack on the Tower 22 base would “continue at times and places of our choosing”.
For more of this analysis, click here:
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US imposes sanctions over Iran cyber and missile programs, seizes $108m
The US announced new sanctions and charges aimed at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as Washington launched the retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
They measures were among a number taken by Washington and apparently timed to coincide with deadly strikes on pro-Iran fighters.
Agence France-Presse reports the US Treasury Department said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on six officials in the cyber-electronic command of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over activities targeting critical infrastructure.
In a separate notice, the Treasury added it was also hitting a network of suppliers providing “materials and sensitive technology for Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs”.
In a third measure, prosecutors also announced they had seized $108m used in an oil laundering scheme to fund the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force.
The moves came shortly after President Joe Biden blamed “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq” for last weekend’s drone attack on a base in Jordan that killed three American troops.
As the US launched Friday’s strikes, Biden warned that such attacks would “continue at times and places of our choosing”.
In issuing the latest US sanctions on Friday, the Treasury said IRGC-affiliated cyber actors recently hacked and posted images on screens of controllers manufactured by an Israeli company, Unitronics.
The department said:
Unauthorised access to critical infrastructure systems can enable actions that harm the public and cause devastating humanitarian consequences.
A State Department spokesperson added that “actors used default credentials to display an anti-Israel message” on the controllers’ interface.
This is Adam Fulton picking up our live coverage – stay with us for all the latest
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Summary of the day so far
US military forces have attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard. The US military’s Central Command said it had struck with more than 125 bombs in an attack that took place around midnight local time (4pm ET) in what is being described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups. The airstrikes took place over about 30 minutes on Friday, and three of the sites struck were in Iraq and four were in Syria, Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director of the joint staff, told reporters.
Initial reports from the ground were limited. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said at least 18 Iran-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria. At least 26 important sites housing pro-Iran groups including weapons depots have been destroyed in raids striking a large swath of eastern Syria, stretching more than 62 miles (100km) from the city of Deir ez-Zor to Albu Kamal, near the Iraq border, the monitoring group told AFP.
The US strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan. On Thursday, the US said it blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-linked militias, for the deadly drone attack at the weekend on the remote Tower 22 logistics base in Jordan, near the border with Syria and Iraq. Three US army reservists were killed after a living quarters was struck at night and more than 80 wounded.
US officials have said there were no plans to bomb Iran, which would represent a significant escalation. US administration officials have repeatedly stressed that Washington does not intend to go to war with Iran, despite the accusation that it had armed the groups behind the Tower 22 attack.
Joe Biden warned in a statement released after the attacks began that “if you harm an American, we will respond”. The statement said: “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.” John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said the responses “began tonight. They’re not going to end tonight.”
An Iraqi military spokesperson has said US airstrikes were launched at Iraqi border areas, warning that the attacks could ignite instability in the region. Yahya Rasool said in a statement reported by Reuters: “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.”
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The New York Times, citing Lebanese media, says blackouts were reported in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province after US airstrikes there.
The US strikes were taken knowing that there would likely be casualties among those in the facilities, Lt Gen Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, told reporters.
“We know that there are militants that use these locations, IRGC as well as Iranian-aligned militia group personnel,” Sims said.
We made these strikes tonight with an idea that there would likely be casualties associated with people inside those facilities.
US will not strike inside Iran, say officials
US officials have told CNN that the US had no plan to bomb Iran, which would represent a significant escalation.
Administration officials have repeatedly stressed that Washington does not intend to go to war with Iran, despite the accusation that it had armed the groups behind the Tower 22 attack.
Iran has also previously warned the US not to launch any direct strike on Iranian territory, saying if the US acts in this way its response will be swift and dramatic.
US officials have known for a few days now that the first strikes would happen tonight, the official told CNN.
A US defense official told the broadcaster that Air Force B-1 bombers were among the US aircraft that carried out strikes today.
The airstrikes took place over about 30 minutes on Friday, and three of the sites struck were in Iraq and four were in Syria, Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters.
John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesperson, said the targets “were carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties and based on clear, irrefutable evidence that they were connected to attacks on US personnel in the region”.
The strikes appeared to have stopped short of directly targeting Iran or senior leaders of the Revolutionary Guard Quds Force within its borders.
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White House says there will be 'additional responses' after initial strikes
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said US airstrikes struck three facilities in Iraq and four in Syria.
Kirby, speaking to reporters, said the Iraqi government was informed prior to the strikes. He added:
These responses began tonight. They’re not going to end tonight. So there will be additional responses. There will be additional action that we will take, all designed to put an end to these attacks and to take away capability by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp).
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Joe Biden has reiterated that the US does not seek conflict in the Middle East as he confirmed that he directed US military forces on Friday to strike targets in Iraq and Syria.
Posting to social media, the US president added:
To all those who seek to do us harm: We will respond.
Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces struck targets in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack U.S. forces.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 2, 2024
We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.
But to all those who seek to do us harm: We will respond.
US strikes 'hit exactly what we meant to hit'
The US has said that the 85 targets were grouped in seven different locations – four in Syria and three in Iraq.
Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director for operations on the joint staff, said the timing of the strikes was determined by the weather, with the best weather appearing today.
“The initial indications are that we hit exactly what we meant to hit with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations,” he said.
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Iraqi military warns US strikes could lead to 'dire consequences'
An Iraqi military spokesperson has said US airstrikes were launched at Iraqi border areas, warning that the attacks could ignite instability in the region.
Iraqi military spokesperson Yahya Rasool said in a statement reported by Reuters:
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.
Death toll from airstrikes in eastern Syria rises to 18 – reports
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has said strikes in eastern Syria have resulted in the deaths of “at least 18 pro-Iran fighters”.
At least 26 important sites housing pro-Iranian groups including weapons depots have been destroyed in ongoing raids striking a large swath of eastern Syria, stretching more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) from the city of Deir ez-Zor to Albu Kamal, near the Iraqi border, the monitoring group told AFP.
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'This is the start of our response': Austin says US forces struck seven facilities in Iraq and Syria
The US secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, has released a statement confirming that US forces conducted strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria.
A statement reads:
Following the attack on U.S. and Coalition Forces in northeastern Jordan this past Sunday that killed three U.S. service members, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces today conducted strikes on seven facilities, which included more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces.
This is the start of our response. The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing.
We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces. We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces, and our interests.
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At least 13 killed in airstrikes in eastern Syria – report
At least 13 Iranian-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
The airstrikes destroyed 17 positions sheltering Iranian militias in Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bokamal near the border between Syria and Iraq, in addition to airstrikes targeting positions near Deir ez-Zor city, it said.
Syrian state media said earlier that a number of sites on Syria’s desert areas and the Syrian and Iraqi border had resulted in a number of casualties and injuries.
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Six Iranian-backed militia members have been killed and four others injured as a result of airstrikes on Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At least three of those killed were of non-Syrian nationality, the group said.
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Biden: US response to drone attack to continue 'at times and places of our choosing'
The White House has released a statement from Joe Biden following the news that the US launched airstrikes against targets in Syria and Iraq in response to Sunday’s drone attack on a US military base that killed three soldiers.
The statement reads:
This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack U.S. 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.
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Just minutes before the first reports on the strikes, Joe Biden attended a solemn ritual at Dover air force base in Delaware for the return of the remains of the three fallen US troops killed in last weekend’s drone attack in Jordan.
The US president and the first lady, Jill Biden, joined grieving families as they honored the three American service members killed: Sgt William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Sgt Kennedy Sanders of Waycross and Sgt Breonna Moffett of Savannah.
“They risked it all,” Biden said on Thursday. He did not speak at Friday’s event.
The defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and Gen CQ Brown, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, also attended.
Syrian state media is reporting that an “American aggression“ on sites in the country’s desert areas and the Syrian and Iraqi border have resulted in a number of casualties and injuries.
US military says it struck 'more than 85 targets'
US Central Command has said its forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.
The airstrikes were carried out at 4pm eastern time on Friday, it said.
It said US military forces struck more than 85 targets including “command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities” belonging to militia groups and their IRGC sponsors.
CENTCOM Statement on U.S. Stikes in Iraq and Syria
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 2, 2024
At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces… pic.twitter.com/q9gFDxppmo
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US warned it would carry out 'multi-tier response' to Jordan attack
The US had warned it will carry out a series of reprisal strikes launched over more than one day in response to the drone strike over the weekend.
The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, did not specify the timing or precise location of strikes during Pentagon press conference on Thursday, but said:
We will have a multi-tier response and we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on the situation … We look to hold the people responsible for this accountable and we also seek to take away capability as we go forward.
Austin insisted that a lot of thought in Washington had gone into ensuring that the US response did not trigger a major escalation.
The secretary of defense stressed the US was not at war with Iran and Washington did not know if Tehran was aware of the specific drone strikes on Sunday mounted by what he described as the axis of resistance.
Three rounds of airstrikes targeted Iranian militia positions in parts of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
There have been casualties as a result, NBC reported that the organisation said.
US launched strikes on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria, say officials
The US launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias, in an opening salvo of retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US service members in Jordan last weekend, officials have told Associated Press.
The initial strikes by manned and unmanned aircraft were hitting command and control headquarters, ammunition storage and other facilities, according to AP.
US officials have told Reuters that the strikes targeted facilities linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the militias it backs.
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US begins to launch strikes in response to Jordan drone attack
The US has begun a wave of retaliatory airstrikes targeting militants in Iraq and Syria, according to reports, in response to a drone attack in northern Jordan which killed three American service personnel and wounded dozens more.
The strikes, reported by Associated Press and Reuters, come as Joe Biden joined grieving families at Dover air force base in Delaware on Friday as they honored the three US military personnel killed in the drone attack in Jordan last weekend.
The attack on Tower 22 was the first deadly strike against US troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.
Responsibility was claimed by the Iranian-backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance, and the US has made no attempt to disguise its belief that Iran was ultimately responsible. Tehran has insisted it had nothing to do with the attack.
Biden told reporters earlier this week that he held Iran responsible “in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons” to Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful member of the Islamic Resistance group. However, the president added:
I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.
Reporter: “Have you made a decision about how to respond to the attack [on U.S. service members in Jordan]?”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 30, 2024
President Biden: “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/jeuWujvPAR
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