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Iraqi Militias Launch Drone Strikes on US Base in Eastern Syria

A patrol of American soldiers on December 12 on the outskirts of Rumailan in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, which the Kurds control. (AFP)
A patrol of American soldiers on December 12 on the outskirts of Rumailan in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, which the Kurds control. (AFP)
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Iraqi Militias Launch Drone Strikes on US Base in Eastern Syria

A patrol of American soldiers on December 12 on the outskirts of Rumailan in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, which the Kurds control. (AFP)
A patrol of American soldiers on December 12 on the outskirts of Rumailan in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, which the Kurds control. (AFP)

A group calling itself the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" launched drone strikes on the US Rumailan base in Syria’s Hasakah after 25 militants were killed in Israeli airstrikes against alleged pro-Iran militia sites.

The militia revealed in a statement that the attack was in response to "Israeli massacres against the people in Gaza" and as part of its "resistance against the US occupation in Iraq and the region."

Iranian-backed groups have launched over 100 attacks on US military bases in Iraq and Syria.

Explosions were heard at the American Kharab Al-Jir base in Rumailan countryside, eastern Syria, as a result of an attack with two successive batches of drones and missiles.

The American forces downed some of the drones; however, no causalities were reported as fighter jets of the international coalition to combat ISIS flew over the area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The Observatory documented 67 attacks against US bases in Syria since October 19.

At least 25 Iran-backed fighters were killed in air strikes on Friday night in eastern Syria, the Observatory added.

SOHR suggested that Israel may be behind the attack.

Headquartered in London, the war monitor said that the raids targeted posts of the Iranian militias in the Iranian security zone, posts in the 47th Regiment in the desert of al-Bukamal, a convoy belonging to the militias after entering the Syrian territory coming from Iraq, headquarters, a military shipment, an ammunition warehouse, and vehicles in al-Bukamal and its countryside near the Syrian-Iraqi border.

SOHR noted that Israel targeted Syrian territories 45 times since the war on Gaza in October, where it documented 28 attacks: 28 airstrikes and 17 rocket attacks by ground forces.

Those attacks destroyed 28 targets and left 77 combatants and two civilians dead.

Israel often targets sites in Syria to prevent Iran from strengthening its military presence in the region through its militias.

The US bases in SDF-controlled northeastern Syria have been targeted daily by rocket shells and drones since Israel declared war on Gaza.

There are nine US bases in Syria: one in al-Tanf, two in Deir Ezzor's countryside, and six in Hasakah.

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Arab World

2 US Service Members and One American Civilian Killed in Ambush in Syria, US Central Command Says

Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
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2 US Service Members and One American Civilian Killed in Ambush in Syria, US Central Command Says

Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)

Two US service members and one American civilian were killed and three other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by a lone member of the ISIS group in central Syria, the US military’s Central Command said. 

The attack on US troops in Syria is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad a year ago. 

Central Command said in a post on X that as a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with Department of Defense policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified. 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.” 

The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which earlier said two members of Syria’s security force and several US service members had been wounded. The casualties were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan. 

SANA said the attacker was killed, without providing further details. 

The US has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the ISIS group. 

Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against the ISIS as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following the ouster of Assad when opposition factions overthrew his regime in Damascus. 

The US had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. The interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with President Donald Trump. 

ISIS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq. 

US troops, which have maintained a presence in different parts of Syria, including al-Tanf garrison in the central province of Homs, to train other forces as part of a broad campaign against ISIS, have been targeted in the past.  

One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij when a blast killed two US service members and two American civilians, as well as others from Syria while conducting a patrol. 

Arab World

Israel Suspends Strike on Southern Lebanon Village After Lebanese Army Request

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Suspends Strike on Southern Lebanon Village After Lebanese Army Request

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)

Israel put a planned strike on a village in southern Lebanon on hold on Saturday after the Lebanese army requested access to the site to “address a breach” of a ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Israel had issued an evacuation warning for the village of Yanouh ahead of what it said was a planned strike against infrastructure of the Hezbollah group.

“After the warning was issued, the Lebanese Army... requested permission to access the specified site again, which had been declared in violation, in order to address the breach of the agreement,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on X.

The Israel army “decided to allow this, and accordingly the airstrike was temporarily frozen.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.

On Tuesday, Israel hit what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon have both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step toward meeting a months-old US demand that they broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.

Arab World

Israel Says Killed Top Hamas Weapons Figure in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Killed Top Hamas Weapons Figure in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel said it killed the head of weapons production in Hamas's military wing in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. 

The civil defense agency and medical sources in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory told AFP an Israeli strike killed five people in the Tel al-Hawa district, southwest of Gaza City. 

When contacted by AFP earlier on Saturday, the army did not say whether the strike reported in Tel al-Hawa was the same as the one mentioned in an army statement before the announcement that it had killed Hamas's Raed Saad. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that "in response to the detonation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today in the Yellow Area of the Gaza Strip... (they) instructed the elimination of the terrorist Raed Saad". 

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli troops have withdrawn to positions behind the so-called Yellow Line, though they are still in control of more than half the territory. 

Netanyahu and Katz described Saad as "one of the architects" of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. 

The Israeli army said Saad was the head of the weapons production headquarters of Hamas's military wing who led the group's "force build-up". 

Family sources confirmed his death to AFP and said the funeral would be held on Sunday. 

Israel's military earlier on Saturday said two reserve soldiers were lightly injured "as a result of an explosive device that detonated during an operation to clear the area of terrorist infrastructure in southern Gaza". 

The ceasefire that came into effect on October 10 has halted the fighting between Israel and Hamas, but it remains fragile with each side accusing the other of violating its terms. 

- Burnt-out car - 

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza civil defense which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said five people were killed after "a civilian jeep-type vehicle was targeted near the Nabulsi roundabout in Tel al-Hawa". 

Bassal said the "charred" bodies were taken to Al-Shifa hospital after "Israeli warplanes targeted the civilian vehicle with three missiles, causing it to burn and its destruction". 

The hospital's emergency department confirmed to AFP the arrival of the five bodies and said more than 25 people were injured in the strike. 

AFP footage showed a mangled car with vehicle parts scattered around next to other debris. 

"Warplanes fired several missiles at the vehicle, setting it ablaze. Residents rushed to extinguish the fire, and charred body parts were scattered on the ground," a witness, who did not wish to give his name for security reasons, said in the Tel al-Hawa area. 

Another witness, a 34-year-old man living in a tent in the Tel al-Hawa area, said he "saw several Hamas members arrive at the site of the attack", without providing further details. 

Civil defense agency spokesman Bassal also said a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy were killed by Israeli fire in two separate incidents in Gaza.