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Pentagon Says US Strikes Two Syrian Facilities

File photo of a previous Israeli strike on Syria ( Reuters)
File photo of a previous Israeli strike on Syria ( Reuters)
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Pentagon Says US Strikes Two Syrian Facilities

File photo of a previous Israeli strike on Syria ( Reuters)
File photo of a previous Israeli strike on Syria ( Reuters)

US President Joe Biden ordered strikes on two facilities in Syria following attacks on US troops in the past week, the Pentagon said, warning the US will take additional measures if attacks by Iran's proxies continue.

US forces have been hit more than a dozen times in Iraq and Syria in the past week by what Washington suspects are Iran-backed groups.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at the United Nations on Thursday that if Israel's offensive against Hamas did not stop, the United States will "not be spared from this fire".

The US military on Thursday carried out strikes against two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it backs, the Pentagon said.

"These precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

Biden has sent a rare message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Tehran against targeting US personnel in the Middle East, the White House said earlier on Thursday.

Israel said on Friday military raids into Gaza were preparing "the next stage of the operation", amid fears that a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave could spark a wider Middle East conflict.

Governments in the West and the Middle East are concerned about a wider regional conflict developing if Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza or mounts a ground invasion in response to the surprise attack by Hamas.

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have already exchanged fire and Israel has targeted Syrian army infrastructure and airports.

The United States has sent warships and fighter aircraft to the region over the last three weeks. On Thursday the Pentagon said about 900 more US troops have arrived in the Middle East or are heading there to bolster air defences for US personnel.

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UN Says Israeli Settlers Cut Down Olive Trees in ‘War-Like’ West Bank Campaign

An aerial view of a yard where cars were torched overnight, in the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (AFP)
An aerial view of a yard where cars were torched overnight, in the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (AFP)
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UN Says Israeli Settlers Cut Down Olive Trees in ‘War-Like’ West Bank Campaign

An aerial view of a yard where cars were torched overnight, in the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (AFP)
An aerial view of a yard where cars were torched overnight, in the Palestinian town of Huwara near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (AFP)

The United Nations humanitarian office accused Israel on Friday of using "war-like" tactics against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, citing killings by soldiers and attacks on Palestinian olive groves by Israeli settlers.

This month so far, OCHA said it had received reports that settlers have carried out 32 attacks against Palestinians and their property, including on farmers. It added there were initial reports Israeli forces killed a woman who was harvesting olives near the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday.

"It is, frankly, very concerning that it's not only attacks on people, but it's attacks on their olive groves as well," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said at a Geneva press briefing. "The olive harvest is an economic lifeline for tens of thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank."

Israel's military said it had launched an investigation into the reported attack in Jenin and the commanding officer there at the time has been suspended pending the checks.

It said, as with every year, it was working to secure the area to let people get on with the harvest. "The harvest season was planned and coordinated with all relevant parties, and IDF forces are providing security in the designated areas," it added.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year.

The OCHA report said around 600 mainly olive trees have been burnt, vandalized or stolen by settlers since the start of the harvest. It included a picture of a Palestinian man standing next to an olive tree stump with its branches sawn off.

"Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like tactics in the West Bank, raising serious concerns over excessive use of force and deepening people's humanitarian needs," Laerke said.

Earlier this month, the UN World Food Program said that violence and the spillover effect of the Gaza war had nearly doubled the number of people facing food insecurity in the West Bank to 600,000 people since early 2023.

A group of Western states including France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement on Oct. 14 saying olive-picking had become "dangerous" due to settler violence and calling on Israel to allow Palestinians to join the harvest.

Settler violence is a source of growing concern among Israel's Western allies. A number of countries, including the United States, have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and urged Israel to do more to stop the violence.