US carries out retaliatory strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria

Night attacks on Rafah, where more than half of the refugees are located

The Gazan town of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, was attacked by Israel on Friday night. According to the AFP news agency, these would be “heavy attacks”. The Gazan health ministry counted 100 deaths on Friday night, including 14 killed in attacks on two homes in Rafah. Many people fled to the southern city earlier in the war because it had been designated a ‘safe area’ by Israel. According to the United Nations, more than 1.3 million of the 2.3 million Gazans are now in Rafah.

To estimates of international media Before the war, between 200,000 and 300,000 people lived in Rafah. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Humanitarian Affairs Organization (OCHA), said on Friday a press conference that Rafah is so overcrowded that humanitarian vehicles can barely move there. Many refugees sleep in makeshift tents and suffer from famine and epidemics. “It’s like every week we think: you know, it can’t get any worse. Well, go and have a look. Getting worse.”

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that Israel would target Rafah. He said the army there is continuing to “eliminate terrorist elements that threaten us” after having “dismantled” Hamas in the city of Khan Younis, also in the south.

US strikes targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for drone attack on base in Jordan

US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq hit more than 85 targets used by Iran-linked militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Friday evening. The American armed forces have stated this, international news agencies report.

The strikes, a retaliation for Sunday’s drone strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members, targeted targets at seven locations, including command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, missiles, drone and ammunition warehouses and other facilities.

The attacks lasted about thirty minutes. Four of the seven locations were in Syria, three were in Iraq, said Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, chief of the Joint Staff. A number of aircraft were used in the attacks, including long-range B-1 bombers flown from the US.

Washington accuses Iranian-linked militias in the region of the drone attack in Jordan and says the drone used was Iranian-made. Tehran denies involvement.

Also read: American retaliation for fatal drone attack on base in Jordan will require tailor-made measures

The White House said more retaliatory attacks would follow. “Our response started today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in Washington that “additional actions will be taken in response in the coming days.” He also said the choice of targets was based on “clear, irrefutable evidence that they are linked to attacks on US personnel in the region.” He would not say exactly what that evidence was.

Syrian state media have criticized the attacks as “American aggression.” The Iraqi military warned that they could cause instability in the region, calling them “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”

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