By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

U.S. Strikes Targets In Syria

Israeli forces launched a second overnight ground assault into Gaza on Friday to continue preparing the battlefield for a possible larger ground offensive. This followed similar efforts the day before in northern Gaza. Israel’s war cabinet has not yet released a timeline for starting its more comprehensive invasion. Late Friday also saw the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carry out an exceptionally heavy barrage of airstrikes on northern Gaza, and reports indicate that the territory has come under a near-total communication blackout, including the loss of internet and cell service.

That same day, the IDF carried out a raid in a West Bank refugee camp, killing three people and arresting around 70 others. A fourth person was killed later that day. According to the IDF, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander was among the four Palestinians killed; one Israeli soldier was also killed.

As the Israel-Hamas war intensifies, fears are rising that the conflict could spill over into the rest of the region. On Thursday, the United States executed airstrikes against two Iranian-backed militant targets in eastern Syria. According to the U.S. Defense Department, two F-16 fighter jets targeted a weapons and ammunition storage facility funded by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The attack was a direct retaliation for recent strikes against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed groups, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said and was separate from Washington’s efforts to support Israel. But Iran has a long history of funding and training Hamas as well as other militant groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that the United States “will not be spared from this fire” if the Israel-Hamas war continues.

To further worry regional experts, drone strikes hit two Egyptian Red Sea towns near the Israeli border on Thursday. At least six people were injured. Although no group has claimed responsibility, the IDF blamed an “aerial threat” in the Red Sea region, potentially pointing to Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis. Last week, U.S. Navy forces intercepted a Houthi-launched missile that some military officials feared was aimed at Israel. And on Wednesday, Hamas targeted the Israeli village of Eilat, located near one of the Egyptian towns attacked on Thursday—signaling the longest-range Palestinian attack since the war began on Oct. 7.

“Israel will work with Egypt and the U.S. and will bolster regional defenses in the area,” IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said regarding the overnight strikes. Cairo has a long history of involvement in Gaza, including helping the IDF impose a 17-year blockade on the region and organizing aid deliveries into Gaza in the past few days. On Friday alone, Egypt transported a medical team and ten trucks carrying food, water, and medicine into southern Gaza through its Rafah border crossing.

 

 

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