February 3, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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US forces struck an additional Houthi anti-ship cruise missile in Yemen early Sunday local time, according to US Central Command.

The strike was conducted in “self defense” against a Houthi cruise missile “prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea” at 4 a.m. local time on Sunday, US Central Command said in a statement. 

US forces determined the cruise missile presented an “imminent threat” to US Navy ships and other vessels in the region.

The strike is a part of the US military’s effort to deter the Houthis from further disrupting the global shipping lanes in the Red Sea. 

Israel’s military has attacked more than 3,400 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and more than 50 in Syria since the war in Gaza broke out 120 days ago, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

At a press briefing Saturday, Hagari said Israel has been trying to stop Hezbollah’s “supply chain of ammunition and missiles,” which he alleged were being smuggled from Iran to Syria and then to Lebanon.

Hagari also said the Israeli military has deployed three divisions along the Lebanese border since October 7 – instead of the usual single division to try to thwart Hezbollah’s capabilities and protect people in northern Israel.

For the last four months, along with the war in Gaza, we have been waging a very intense battle on the northern front, aimed at reshaping the security reality so that the residents of the north can return to their homes safely,” Hagari said, adding: “So far we have attacked more than 150 terrorist units and eliminated more than 200 terrorists and commanders.”

Hezbollah on Saturday said it had launched at least eight attacks on Israeli positions.

The IDF acknowledged that “a number of launches” were identified crossing from Lebanon to northern Israel, but said no injuries were reported and that it struck the sources of the fire.

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said Saturday that strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen are about protection.

“The Houthis’ attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea are illegal and unacceptable and it is our duty to protect innocent lives and preserve freedom of navigation,” Shapps said in a statement after the United Kingdom and United States conducted the strikes against the Iranian-backed rebel group.

Shapps also said the strikes were “not an escalation,” adding that they have “already successfully targeted launchers and storage sites involved in Houthi attacks” on ships in the Red Sea.

In a separate joint statement with the US-led coalition, the UK said that Houthi attacks constituted “an international challenge” and issued a warning to Houthi leadership. 

“We will not hesitate to continue to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways in the face of continued threats,” the coalition said. 

The Houthi rebels have said their strikes on Red Sea ships are in response to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a top member of the Houthi Political Council, said the group will continue its military operations until the siege on Gaza is lifted and vowed to respond to the latest US and UK strikes in Yemen.

In the group’s first reaction to the latest wave of attacks, he warned: “We will meet escalation with escalation.”

Al Bukhaiti wrote on X:

“The US-British coalition’s bombing of a number of Yemeni provinces will not change our position, and we affirm that our military operations against Israel will continue until the crimes of genocide in Gaza are stopped and the siege on its residents is lifted, no matter the sacrifices it costs us.”   
“Our war is moral, and if we had not intervened to support the oppressed in Gaza, humanity would not have existed among humans. The American-British aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered, and we will meet escalation with escalation,” he said.

Recent strikes by the US military in the Middle East make it difficult to reach a political solution in the region, Iran’s foreign minister told the United Nations’ special envoy for Yemen on Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run news agency.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments prior to US officials confirming the latest strikes Saturday on Houthi targets. The attacks follow multiple joint US-UK airstrikes on the Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen last month.

During their meeting in Tehran, Amir-Abdollahian told Special Envoy Hans Grundberg that the US strikes and its decision to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization have “complicated the situation and made it more difficult to reach a political solution,” the state news agency, IRNA, reported. 

Amir-Abdollahian also called US strikes “the continuation of Washington’s wrong and failed approach to resolve issues by force and through militarism,” IRNA reported. 

Remember: The US also conducted major airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers. 

The strikes in Yemen are distinct from the attacks in Iraq and Syria: The former is a response to ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping and US warships in the Red Sea, while the latter is a retaliation for the deadly attack on US troops. But both target Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.

US President Joe Biden gave the green light for Saturday’s strikes earlier in the week, according to two senior administration officials. 

The strikes are separate from the retaliatory measures the United States took on Friday in Syria and Iraq, and are related to ongoing actions to defend US ships and international commercial vessels in the Red Sea, according to one administration official.

They mark the third set of strikes as part of a coalition that includes the United States, the UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark and New Zealand. 

The senior administration official stressed that the US does not want escalation, and that the strikes are in direct response to the actions by the Iranian-backed Houthis.

The strikes occurred as Biden visited his campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. The president is currently en route to Los Angeles, where he’s expected to participate in campaign fundraisers. 

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels say their strikes on ships in the Red Sea as in response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. There are fears that the attacks could escalate Israel’s war against Hamas into a wider regional conflict.

On Saturday, the US and UK struck over 30 Houthi targets across Yemen, while the US also struck six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles that the group was prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea, according to US officials.

This is what you should know about the rebel group:

Civil war: The Houthi movement, also known as Ansarallah (Supporters of God), is one side of the Yemeni civil war that has raged for nearly a decade. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when Houthi forces stormed the capital Sanaa and toppled the internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government, triggering a civil war. The war has sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and pushing parts of the country into famine.

Backed by Iran: The Houthis are backed by Iran, which began increasing its aid to the group in 2014 as the civil war escalated and as its rivalry with Saudi Arabia intensified. Iran has provided the group with weapons and technology for, among other things, sea mines, ballistic and cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones), according to a 2021 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Shipping attacks: While the Houthis may not be able to pose a serious threat to Israel, their technology can wreak havoc in the Red Sea. There are fears that the Houthi drone and missile attacks against commercial vessels, which have occurred almost daily since December 9, could cause an even greater shock to the world economy. The Houthi strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its bombardment of Gaza. Championing the Palestinian cause could also be an attempt to gain legitimacy at home and in the region as they seek to control northern Yemen. It could also give them an upper hand against their Arab adversaries, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who they accuse of being lackeys of the US and Israel.

The additional strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen send a clear message to the Iran-backed militia, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday.

Austin issued the following statement:

“These strikes are intended to further disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia to conduct their reckless and destabilizing attacks against U.S. and international vessels lawfully transiting the Red Sea. Coalition forces targeted 13 locations associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars.
“This collective 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.”

Coalition statement: In a separate statement, the US, UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand said. 

“These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, and the lives of innocent mariners, and are in response to a series of illegal, dangerous, and destabilizing 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.”
It added: “Our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea but let us reiterate our warning to Houthi leadership: we will not hesitate to continue to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways in the face of continued threats.”

The US and the United Kingdom have conducted strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen from air and surface platforms — including F/A-18s — on over 30 targets across 13 locations, according to officials.

The US and UK carried out the strikes with the support of several other countries, according to a joint statement on Saturday.

“Today’s strike specifically targeted sites associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars,” the statement released by the US, UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand said.

The Houthis said US and UK warplanes struck multiple provinces in Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa.

Two US destroyers fired Tomahawk missiles as part of the strikes, a US official told CNN. The USS Gravely and USS Carney fired the land-attack cruise missiles and F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier were also involved, officials said.

For context: Strikes on consecutive days come as President Joe Biden’s administration has vowed a “multi-tiered” response to a drone attack that killed three US service members and wounded more than 40 last weekend.

Seeking to avoid a regional war with Tehran, the US has not targeted Iran directly, instead going after some of its most powerful proxies in the region. It is an indirect way of trying to send a message to Iran’s leadership, which has grown increasingly nervous about the actions of some of the militant organizations it backs, CNN has reported. Iran funds, arms and supplies these groups to different degrees, but its leadership does not control them directly.

The strikes in Yemen are distinct from the attacks in Iraq and Syria: The former is a response to ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping lanes and US warships in the Red Sea, while the latter is a retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops. But both target Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi contributed to this post.

The post has been updated with the joint statement, information about US missiles and more background on the strikes against Houthi targets.

The US struck six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles in Yemen on Saturday, according to US Central Command, one day after destroying a series of Houthi drones both in the air and on the ground.

At 7:20 p.m. local time in Yemen (11:20 a.m. ET) on Saturday, the US struck the cruise missiles as the Iranian-backed rebel group was prepared to launch them against ships in the Red Sea, CENTCOM said.

Remember: The US has been going after Houthi weaponry — both before and after launches — with increasing frequency as part of an effort to disrupt attacks from the Iranian-backed rebel group on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

On Friday, US forces shot down a total of eight drones and destroyed four more before they were launched in three separate incidents, according to CENTCOM.

Hamas reiterated on Saturday that an end of military hostilities and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip are necessary preconditions for a hostage release deal.

In a news conference held in Beirut on Saturday, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the group received a “general framework proposal” that was circulated during a meeting held last weekend in Paris between Israeli, American, Qatari and Egyptian officials. 

“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,” Hamdan said.

Hamas also called for “practical international recognition of the right of our people to self-determination and establishing their independent, fully sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Hamdan’s statement echoes a sentiment he expressed to Lebanese media Friday, when he said a “full inclusive ceasefire” is needed before a hostage deal is reached. 

Israel’s position: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the conditions proposed by Hamas, asserting that Israel will not pull back its troops from Gaza.

“I want to make it clear, we will not end this war with less than the achievement of all its goals. This means the elimination of Hamas, the return of all our hostages, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” he said on Tuesday.

Thousands of people are protesting in parts of Israel today to demand a change in government and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

In the coastal town of Caesarea, protesters rallied in the rain before marching toward one of the private residences of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some were seen calling for the prime minister’s removal, chanting, “Guilty, guilty, guilty!”

And in Tel Aviv, protesters gathered at Habima Square to call for immediate elections. 

Many waved Israeli flags and held up signs with images of the Israeli hostages, calling on the government to “bring them home.”

The US House of Representatives will vote next week on a standalone bill providing aid for Israel, Speaker Mike Johnson announced in a letter to colleagues Saturday.

Johnson put a $14.3 billion Israel aid package on the floor last year that included partisan Internal Revenue Service funding cuts that Democrats opposed. Now, the speaker is planning to move a $17.6 billion Israel bill with no offsets, upping pressure on Democrats to support it. 

In his letter to lawmakers, Johnson attacked senators for excluding him and the House from bipartisan negotiations over a US border security deal, which is expected to be paired with aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. 

Johnson called on the Senate to take up the standalone Israel bill swiftly, ratcheting up pressure on senators to abandon their efforts to keep Israel aid linked with other issues.

“The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally,” Johnson wrote.

Senate negotiators are expected to unveil bill text for a border deal and supplemental funding package no later than Sunday, with procedural votes starting next week. But its prospects for passage remain in doubt, given the opposition from House Republicans and former President Donald Trump.

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss the US strikes on Iraq and Syria, a diplomatic source told CNN. 

Russia requested an urgent Security Council meeting, according to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Russian state news agency TASS reported earlier Saturday. 

Zakharova said the American airstrikes “once again demonstrated to the world the aggressive nature of US policy in the Middle East and Washington’s complete disregard for international law.”

In a statement earlier Saturday, Moscow criticized the US for “inflaming conflict” and sowing “destruction and chaos” in the Middle East.

Russia’s criticism comes as it wages a grueling war following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Key regional players also slammed the US military action:

Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese paramilitary group backed by Iran, said in a statement Saturday that “blatant American aggression against Iraq and Syria” contributed to the destabilization of the region and demonstrated a disregard for humanitarian and international laws.

Hezbollah is among the Iranian proxies at the center of fears of a wider war in the Middle East, due to ongoing clashes with Israeli troops at the border in southern Lebanon.

Hamas, which remains at war with Israel in Gaza, also condemned the airstrikes as an act of “American aggression” and a “significant escalation,” saying the US had acted in “violation of the sovereignty of the two Arab countries.”

This post has been updated with the meeting scheduled for Monday, according to a source.

Pope Francis on Saturday reiterated the Catholic Church’s condemnation of “every form of anti-Judaism and anti-semitism”, in a letter released by the Vatican addressed to “my Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel”. 

He described “manifestations of hatred towards Jews and Judaism as a sin against God”.

“Together with you, we, Catholics, are very concerned about the terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world,” he continues.

“My heart is torn at the sight of what is happening in the Holy Land, by the power of so much division and so much hatred […] 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.”

Francis said: “In a special way we pray for the return of the hostages, rejoicing because of those who have already returned home, and praying that all the others will soon join them.”

A spate of antisemitic attacks have shaken Jewish communities in Europe in the wake of Hamas’ brutal attacks in Israel.

In London, the first week after Hamas’ attacks saw a 1,353% rise in antisemitic incidents, the Metropolitan Police reported.

Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Robert Habeck, said in a video message in November that “Jewish communities are moving their members to avoid certain places for their own safety – and this is happening today, here in Germany, almost 80 years after the Holocaust.”

The General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces denied involvement in the recent airstrikes conducted by the US in Iraq, according to a statement published by Jordanian state news channel Al-Mamlaka on Saturday. 

“An official military source in the General Command of the Armed Forces: The Royal Jordanian Air Force did not participate in the airstrikes carried out by the American Air Force inside Iraqi territories,” Al-Mamlaka TV reported.

Jordanian state news agency Petra cited a source in the Jordanian army denying reports that suggested Jordan participated in airstrikes on Iraq labeling them as “not true.” 

“The press reports that were circulating this morning about the participation of Jordanian aircraft in the operations carried out by American aircraft inside Iraq are not true, the Jordanian Armed Forces respect the sovereignty of brotherly Iraq,” Petra reported. 

Dana Zureikat Daoud, the spokesperson for the Jordanian Embassy in Washington DC, said on X that the statement refutes earlier media reports alleging the involvement of Jordanian aircraft in operations executed by US forces inside Iraq.

It remains unclear whether Jordan had any role in the airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias in Syria, or if any logistical support was provided to the U.S. during the airstrikes that occurred on Friday.

A senior US official earlier told CNN that Jordan is participating in the US operation on Iranian-backed targets. 

Immediately after US officials in Washington received word that Tower 22 in Jordan was struck last weekend — ultimately resulting in the deaths of three American service members — President Joe Biden was presented with, and approved, a range of options on Sunday for retaliation, sources say. 

It was in a meeting in the Situation Room with his top national security advisers the following morning that Biden gave the specific green light for the first set of strikes in Iraq and Syria that was executed Friday. The US said 85 targets were struck.

It was also in that same Monday morning meeting that the president was informed with the assessment that militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were to blame for the Sunday drone attack, according to sources. 

In the days to come, the president’s national security team worked in close coordination with the Department of Defense as they monitored conditions in the region to finalize plans.

Officials had told reporters Friday night that weather on the region had been a significant factor for why the strikes were carried out when they were. 

Senior officials from multiple agencies convened Thursday, then again Friday morning for a “final check,” before proceeding with Friday’s strikes.

A senior US official has told CNN that Jordan is participating in the US operation on Iranian-backed targets. 

A representative of the Jordanian government would not comment. 

On Friday, the US struck 85 targets linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone strike in Jordan on Sunday that killed three American soldiers.

The attack in Jordan occurred at Tower 22 near the country’s border with Syria. US forces at the outpost are there as part of an advise-and-assist mission with Jordan.

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.

US forces conducted strikes against multiple Houthi drones preparing to launch in Yemen on Friday, and US ships also shot down multiple drones in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The strikes come as the US continues to target Houthi drone capabilities in an effort to protect shipping in the region, and after the US hit 85 targets in airstrikes conducted against other Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

Friday’s strikes targeted a drone over the Gulf of Aden in the morning. CENTCOM said it has identified the drone as originating from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

Later, the US conducted strikes against four Houthi UAVs that were preparing to launch from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and then seven more drones flying over the Red Sea.

The strikes were launched from the USS Carney and USS Laboon with F/A-18s from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group.

No injuries or damage were reported.

The US continues to attempt to deter further attacks on its army in the region, without causing conflict to spread. On Tuesday, a cruise missile launched by the Houthis into the Red Sea came within a mile of a US destroyer before it was shot down, the closest a Houthi attack has come to a US warship. 

Israeli protesters are calling for new elections as frustration grows over the government’s handling of the hostage crisis.

Supporters and families of the hostages kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas during the October 7 terror attack have been holding regular protests and sit-ins since the beginning of the war, but have mostly steered away from strong political messaging.

That is starting to change. An anti-government protest titled “Calling for elections now!” is scheduled for Saturday in central Tel Aviv, a third weekend in a row to see protests directly targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. 

“The government of Israel declares in its actions that it is not competent and that the good of the state and its citizens are not at the top of its mind,” the protesters said in a statement.

“We will go out to demonstrate that our future depends only on us - we the people will determine our destiny!,” they said. 

With another protest scheduled for next Saturday, the protests are becoming a regular occurrence, although not yet at the same scale as the mass demonstrations against Netanyahu and his government last spring and summer.

Netanyahu’s government — the most right-wing in Israel’s history — endured months of mass protests last year over its planned judicial reforms. But Netanyahu and his government have mostly refused to accept the protesters’ demands.

The demonstrations were put on hold after the brutal October 7 attack and the formation of the emergency unity government. But with the anger over Netanyahu’s handling of the crisis rising, they could be coming back soon. 

The US struck 85 targets linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers, as tensions caused by the Israel-Gaza conflict continue to spill over to the wider region.

President Joe Biden said adversaries should heed US warnings, while Syria warned that the US strikes “fuel the conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way.”

Here’s what you need to know…

US strikes

Israel-Gaza

Iraq has summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires in Baghdad in the wake of overnight US air strikes in Iraq and Syria on Iranian targets.

“In protest against the American aggression that targeted Iraqi military and civilian locations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will summon Mr. David Bircher, the Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Baghdad,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It continued that this is “due to the absence of the American Ambassador, to deliver an official protest note regarding the American aggression that targeted military and civilian locations in the areas of Akashat and Al-Qaim on the evening of last Friday, February 2, 2024.”

Israeli attacks have killed at least 107 people and injured 165 in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health in the strip said on Saturday.

CNN cannot independently very the number of casualties on the ground.

The Health Ministry added that altogether 27,238 Palestinians had been killed and 66,452 injured in Gaza since October 7.

Several of the deaths were reported in the southernmost town of Rafah, where the United Nations has warned that the situation is a “pressure cooker” as thousands more civilians to flee there from the fighting hotspot of Khan Younis. 

A UN spokesperson, Jens Laerke, expressed the organization’s “deep concern.”

Khan Younis has experienced a significant surge in fighting in recent weeks, with the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying Thursday that the operation there is “progressing and yielding impressive results.” 

Gallant promised that Israeli military will “soon reach” Rafah.

The Iranian foreign ministry has condemned the US retaliatory air strikes in Iraq and Syria and warned of increased instability in the Middle East.

In a statement, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Iran “considers the attacks as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria, international law and a clear violation of the United Nations Charter.”

The airstrikes are an “adventurous action and another strategic mistake by the US government,” he said, adding that there will be “no other result than intensifying tension and instability in the region.”

The US strikes were more significant than previous attacks on Iranian-backed militias over the last several weeks, which have primarily focused on weapons storage or training facilities.

The US conducted major airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria on Friday, hitting facilities used by Iranian-linked Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

It came in response to a drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan.

The PMU are just one part of a complex picture in the Middle East, as this map shows.

US air strikes on Iraq Friday killed at least 16 people, including civilians, and injured 25 others, according to a statement by the Iraqi government spokesperson.

The attacks in the Akashat area and the town of Al-Qaim, close to the border with Syria, including sites “where our security forces are stationed, alongside nearby civilian places,” the government statement said, calling it “aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty.” 

Local authorities in Anbar province said the airstrikes targeted sites used by militias known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashad al Shaabi, including a PMU military base in the Akashat and houses used as weapon warehouses in Al-Qaim.

According to the mayor Rutba, Emad Al-Dulaimi, most killed and wounded in the Akashat area are PMU fighters. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the US informed the Iraqi government of its plans before carrying out the strikes. But the Iraqi government has denied that claim, saying the United States is “misleading international public opinion.” 

The US side “intentionally engaged in deception and distortion of facts, stating coordination with Iraqi authorities for the perpetration of this aggression—an unfounded claim crafted to mislead international public opinion and evade legal responsibility for this condemned act, in violation of international laws,” the statement said. 
The government statement said such attacks “will push the security situation in Iraq and the region to the brink of the abyss, jeopardizing ongoing efforts to establish the necessary stability.” 

President Joe Biden’s decision to strike 85 targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to the death of three American soldiers last weekend amounted to a middle ground: short of a direct strike inside Iran, which would almost certainly spark a wider war, but still more expansive than any action the US has taken so far against the groups it accuses of destabilizing the region.

There is little belief inside the American government that Biden’s actions will completely shut down the constellation of Iranian proxy groups that have been responsible for escalating attacks on American bases and commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea. 

A longer-term solution remains elusive, as Biden enters a reelection year while also pursuing a broad diplomatic breakthrough he hopes could transform the larger region.

Whether the 125 precision-guided missiles fired over 30 minutes Friday night will have the effect of preventing further attacks on Americans is a question officials aren’t yet ready to answer.

But there is hope that by taking out intelligence centers, weapons facilities, command and control operations and bunkers used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and other affiliated militia groups, the US can diminish the militants’ capabilities and send a message that attacks won’t go unanswered.

Read the full analysis.

Syria has warned that the US strikes that targeted various locations in Iraq and Syria late on Friday “fuel the conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way.”

“[Syria] condemns this blatant American violation [and] it categorically rejects all the pretexts and lies promoted by the American administration to justify this attack,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday. 

The US said it hit 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a deadly drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan on Sunday.

Syria’s military said the strikes caused “significant damage” and killed civilians and military personnel. CNN cannot independently verify the number or nature of the casualties.

According to Iraqi security officials, US strikes hit facilities used by al Hashed al Shabi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) near the Iraq-Syria border.

In a statement, Yahya Rasool, the spokesperson of Iraq’s Armed Forces echoed Syria’s warnings that the strikes could destabilize the region.

“These strikes are considered a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, posing a threat that could drag Iraq and the region into undesirable consequences, the outcomes will be dire for the security and stability in Iraq and the region,” Rasool said.

The US strikes that targeted parts of Syria late on Friday killed civilians and military personnel and caused “significant damage,” according to the Syrian military.

“[The United States] launched a blatant air aggression against a number of sites and towns in the eastern region of Syria, and near the Syrian-Iraqi border, which led to the martyrdom of a number of civilians and soldiers, the injury of others, and the infliction of significant damage to public and private property,” the Syrian Ministry of Defense said in a statement early Saturday.

CNN cannot independently verify the number or nature of the casualties.

Earlier on Friday, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there will “likely be casualties” from the strikes in Syria and Iraq.

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported the airstrikes hit the areas of Deir Ezzor, Al-Bukamal, and Al-Mayadeen as well as their surroundings on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

The US said it conducted major airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone strike by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan on Sunday, which killed three US service members and wounded more than 40 others.

The retaliation for a drone strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan last weekend has begun: The US military launched major airstrikes on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday.

The White House declared the operation — which lasted about 30 minutes — a success, but few details were immediately available about the damage and any deaths or injuries on the ground. Casualties were expected, a Pentagon official said.

US officials say the strikes hit four facilities in Syria and three in Iraq, where security officials reported damage in the city of Al-Qaim. The sites allegedly belonged to various Iran-backed militias, which the US blames for the strike in Jordan.

Here’s what you need to know:

The strikes were retaliatory — and came with a warning: The deadly drone strike in Jordan was just the latest in a series of more than 165 attacks on American forces in the Middle East by various Iranian proxy groups since the outbreak of the current Israel-Hamas war.

US President Joe Biden said the strikes demonstrate that his administration will not tolerate the harm of Americans. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed the attack was just “the start of our response.” Both men said the US retaliation will continue “at times and places of our choosing.”

Biden is seeking a delicate balance: The US government is threading a needle — it wants to deter further attacks on its troops while avoiding a full-scale conflict with Iran.

The Jordan attack followed weeks of efforts by the US and regional leaders to prevent a wider Mideast war, even as conflicts spread involving Tehran’s proxies, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

B-1 bombers played a key role in the attack: Air Force B-1 bombers were among the US aircraft that carried out the strikes, a defense official told CNN. The B-1 is a long-range heavy bomber that can deploy precision and non-precision weapons.

The bomber crews flew to the region from the US in a single non-stop flight, according to Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims. The military is confident it “hit exactly what we meant to hit,” Sims said, crediting the precision of the B-1 crews.

The US alerted Iraq, but not Iran: National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the US informed the Iraqi government of its plans before carrying out the strikes. However, he said there had been no communications — backchannel or otherwise — with Iran since the Jordan attack.

The US does not plan to strike inside Iran: A senior official with the Biden administration told CNN the US will not strike inside Iran – only focusing on targets outside of the country. Striking inside Iran would have been a huge escalation, and officials have telegraphed that is unlikely to happen.

It was meant to sound devastating, and likely felt so to the pro-Iranian militias on the receiving end. But Friday night’s airstrikes against over 80 targets inside Iraq and Syria were — so far — a comparatively limited response to the worst loss of US military life in the region in nearly three years.

Friday night tried to sound loud, but will likely not echo for long. US Central Command said the US deployed heavy bombers — the B-1B Lancer — to hit 85 targets in seven locations. The strikes may be determined to have caused more damage when the sun rises. But it was far from the most pain the Pentagon was capable of delivering.

There might be more. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin suggested this was the beginning. But on Friday, the US response lasted just 30 minutes, the White House said. It was short, perhaps sharp, but not a shock.

That was a clear and calculated choice. The Biden administration faced a near-impossible task: Hit hard enough to show you mean it, but also ensure your opponent can absorb the blow without lashing out in return. The US had telegraphed its response for over five days, with senior US officials briefing about its nature, its severity, and even hinting at its targets.

Read more on the analysis here

Lawmakers are reacting to strikes the US conducted in Iraq and Syria on Friday that were in response to a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.

The Biden administration notified Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top leaders ahead of the airstrikes, Hill sources told CNN.

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson, a Republican, criticized the military response, writing in part, “The administration waited for a week and telegraphed to the world, including to Iran, the nature of our response. The public handwringing and excessive signaling undercuts our ability to put a decisive end to the barrage of attacks endured over the past few months.”

Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, a Democrat, praised the response of US President Biden, saying in a statement that “this was a strong, proportional response. In fact, the 85 targets struck tonight mark a greater number than the prior administration.”

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a Republican, said, “Finally” and added on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Iran needs to know the price for American lives,”

US President Joe Biden released a statement following US strikes in Iraq and Syria on Friday.

Here’s what he said:

“This past Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Earlier today, I attended the dignified return of these brave Americans at Dover Airforce Base, and I have spoken with each of their families.
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.”

The White House has set its sights on Israel’s settlers, a controversial movement that has grown in power over the years and is seen by the outside world as a major impediment to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

On Thursday, the State Department announced the first round of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers accused of perpetrating violence in the West Bank. The sanctions block their financial assets and bar them from entering the US.

Settler violence in the West Bank has jumped sharply since Israel’s war against Hamas began, with settlers burning cars, destroying infrastructure and assaulting and killing Palestinians.

The West Bank is home to 3.3 million Palestinians, and it is where the bulk of Jewish settlements are located.

Israel has continued to expand settlements over decades, despite signing a series of peace agreements with the Palestinians in 1990s called the Oslo Accords that envisaged the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza as part of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since the war started on October 7, the White House has doubled down on a longstanding US position supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects.

Only four settlers were targeted in the US move this week. But there are 700,000 of them living in the West Bank and, according to the international community, the presence of every one of them there is illegal. The Palestinians want the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza for a future state, a position that is supported by much of the rest of the world.

Here’s all you need to know about Jewish settlers.

Air Force B-1 bombers were among the US aircraft that carried out strikes Friday in Iraq and Syria, a defense official told CNN.

The B-1 is a long-range heavy bomber that can deploy precision and non-precision weapons.

The bomber crews that flew from the US made it in one non-stop flight, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Friday.

The US is “really confident” in the precision of its strikes on the militia targets, Sims said, crediting the B-1 bombers for that assessment.

“Initial indications are we hit exactly what we meant to hit, with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations” the US targeted, he said.

Sims said the US expected there to be casualties when it selected its targets.

“We know that there are militants that use these locations,” he said. “We made these strikes tonight with an idea that there would likely be casualties associated with people inside those facilities.”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) called for a humanitarian corridor Friday to help evacuate wounded people and others wishing to leave Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.

The hospital in southern Gaza has been besieged for 12 consecutive days, enduring “relentless bombing and direct gunfire” in the surrounding area, PRCS said in a news release.

PRCS said four people were killed Friday, including the director of the Youth and Volunteers Department, Hadiya Hamad. It claimed six others were injured when Israeli forces fired at the organization’s headquarters, which is sheltering thousands of displaced people.

The Israel Defense Forces did not provide a direct response to PRCS’ allegations Friday, but said in a statement to CNN that its activity in Khan Younis will continue for several days until it dismantles “Hamas’ military framework and Hamas strongholds.”

The IDF claims the area surrounding the hospital is home to a “significant component” of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade.

Aid workers have been raising alarm for days about the situation at hospitals in the southern city, with PRCS and the Israeli military providing at-times contradictory accounts from the ground. CNN cannot independently verify either side’s claims, due to the difficulties of reporting from the war zone.

Leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad held a call on Friday to discuss a proposal for a potential hostage deal and ceasefire, according to a statement.

The statement noted that the leaders agreed that any deal should incorporate the following:

This comes after a broad framework for a hostage release and potential ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel was said to have been agreed to among negotiators in Paris last weekend, according to an official familiar with the talks.

Hamas has called for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would not agree to. On Tuesday, Netanyahu also vowed to press on until Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas in Gaza is complete.

On Friday, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, also said that Israel is insisting on keeping some areas in Gaza as a security zone, which he says is not acceptable. “What we want firstly is a full inclusive ceasefire, and also we want commitments for the rebuilding Gaza,” Hamdan told Lebanon’s LBC TV on Friday.

More than 800 officials from the United States and Europe have signed a scathing criticism of Western policy toward Israel and Gaza, accusing their governments of possible complicity in war crimes.

In a statement obtained by CNN, the officials say there is a “plausible risk that our governments’ policies are contributing to grave violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide.”

They accuse their governments of failing to hold Israel to the same standards they apply to other countries and weakening their own “moral standing” in the world.

Among them are around 80 United States officials and diplomats, a source told CNN.

In an unprecedented display of coordinated dissent since Israel’s war against Hamas began nearly four months ago, the signatories call on their governments to “use all leverage” to secure a ceasefire and to stop saying that there is a “a strategic and defensible rationale behind the Israeli operation.”

Read more from the blistering statement.